Hyderabad: In a shocking incident, one Vijay Pochampally has been arrested by authorities in the United States after he groped a woman passenger while she was asleep on a British Airways flight from London to San Francisco. According to the complaint filed in a US District Court, Pochampally “placed his hand down her shirt and made continued skin-to-skin contact” for five minutes while other passengers watched.
It has also been alleged that Pochampally was intoxicated during the incident, which happened two hours into BA Flight 285’s journey on April 15.
British Airways has refused to identify the victim. When the victim woke up, Pochampally quickly retrieved his hand from inside the victim’s shirt and ran down the aisle of the aircraft. He was then confronted by BA attendants and passengers and was asked to move to a different seat for the remainder of the 10-hour flight.
US police then met the flight after it landed in San Francisco and arrested Pochampally, who has now been charged with assault.
In a sworn affidavit, FBI agent Bianca Betz noted: “During the flight, Pochampally, who was in a seat in row 36 of the Boeing 747, positioned himself in the gap behind row 37 and in front of the bulkhead. While in that gap, Pochampally inserted his hand, palm-side down, into the shirt of the sleeping female passenger. His 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.”
Agent Betz also noted that when the victim woke up, Pochampally fled down the aisle and was then confronted by multiple passengers who witnessed the incident.
