An Indian national faces the threat of being sent to prison in Australia for up to 12 years after he was arrested on suspicion of carrying out a horrific sexual assault on a Scoot Airways flight from Singapore to Perth, Western Australia, on Monday.
The 52-year-old suspect was arrested almost immediately after the aircraft arrived at the gate at Perth International Airport, after the terrified female victim managed to alert flight attendants to what was happening and escape her attacker.
The Australian Federal Police arrested the suspect on suspicion of one count of sexual intercourse without consent of three counts of an act of indecency without consent.
Under Australian law, ‘sexual intercourse without consent’ is a broadly defined crime and includes any kind of penetration or oral intercourse.
“Every passenger has the right to feel safe when travelling, especially when confined in an aircraft close to other passengers,” commented Acting Superintendent Peter Brindal following the man’s arrest.
“Anyone subjected to unwanted contact is encouraged to alert the authorities, be it airline staff, the AFP, or airport security, as soon as it is safely possible to do so.”
According to the AFP, the victim was sitting next to the man during the four and a half hour flight to Perth when the man started to sexually molest her without her consent.
The victim managed to alert flight attendants, who moved her to another seat while monitoring the suspect for the remainder of the flight.
Sadly, in-flight sexual assault has become more and more prevalent in recent years, and in many cases, victims are so terrified that they cannot physically get away from their attacker for a considerable amount of time.
Around a decade ago, airlines were criticized for taking a rather dismissive approach towards victims of sexual assault, with aircrew often downplaying the severity of what had happened or even rejecting the reports altogether.
Thankfully, airlines have significantly improved training in this area, and flight attendants are now trained to remove the victim from danger and to immediately report what has happened to local authorities so that the plane can be met on arrival by law enforcement.
