A female passenger was groped for about five minutes while she was sleeping on a British Airways flight from London to San Francisco on April 15.
The female passenger was seated in row 37 of the British Airways flight and Vinay Pochampally, who is accused of groping her, was sitting in row 36, The Smoking Gun reports. The woman's seat was in front of a "bulkhead of the galley and restroom area." About two hours into the flight, the man situated himself "in the gap behind row 37 and in front of the bulkhead," according to Agent Bianca Betz.
"While in that gap, Pochampally inserted his hand, palm-side down, into the shirt of the sleeping female passenger," noted Betz. Pochampally's hand was "underneath the passenger's shirt and undergarments for approximately four to five minutes, making skin-to-skin contact in the breast and upper chest area," Betz said in the affidavit.
Pochampally was reportedly drunk during the incident. When the girl finally woke up, the man quickly removed his hand from her shirt and ran away and down the aisle. The criminal complaint says that many passengers witnessed the incident and crew members were notified about the incident.
When the victim awoke, Pochampally--who was reportedly intoxicated--quickly removed his hand from her shirt and ran away down the plane's aisle. According to the criminal complaint, "multiple passengers witnessed the incident" and told crew members what occurred. However it seems that no one tried to stop the molestation.
After the crew was alerted of the incident, they confronted Pochampally and made him move to a different seat for the rest of the 10-hour ride.
The man was charge with simple assault under a misdemeanor complaint that was filed in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday.
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