Doctor pleads not guilty to touching young girl on flight

Chicago, Sept 8: A Pakistani physician has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he inappropriately touched a girl in July while the two were seated together on a New York-to-Chicago flight.

Muhammad Asif Chaudhry entered the plea Tuesday at an arraignment in Chicago federal court. He's charged with abusive sexual contact.

The complaint says the girl sent frantic text messages to her mother during the encounter. She later alerted a flight attendant and was moved to another seat. Chaudhry, who is 57, is a Pakistani citizen who was on vacation in the US.

As a condition of his bail, he is forbidden from flying, so he drove 16 hours from Oklahoma to attend the arraignment.

The girl is between 12 and 16 and was traveling alone on the airline's unaccompanied-minor program.

PTI