Indian techie assaulted sleeping woman on flight as wife sat next to him
Washington, Aug 18: A 35-year-old Indian IT manager has been convicted of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman aboard a Detroit-bound flight in the US, media reports said.
Prabhu Ramamoorthy, who worked for an IT company for over two years, will be sentenced on December 12 by US District Judge Terrence Berg, The Detroit News reported.
Ramamoorthy
faces
up
to
life
in
prison.
If
released,
he
will
be
deported
to
India.
The
verdict
came
seven
months
after
he
assaulted
the
22-year-old
woman
during
a
Spirit
Airlines
flight
from
Las
Vegas
while
his
wife
sat
in
the
next
seat,
the
report
said.
A federal jury in Michigan's largest city Detroit convicted Ramamoorthy, who lived in Rochester Hills city, of sexually assaulting the woman.
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Following a five-day trial, the jury deliberated for less than four hours before convicting Ramamoorthy, it said.
"We will not tolerate the behaviour of anyone who takes advantage of victims who are in a vulnerable position, and we are glad the jury agreed," US Attorney Matthew Schneider said in a statement.
"We
appreciate
the
victim
in
this
case
for
her
courage
to
speak
out,"
Schneider
said.
The
woman
said
she
was
sitting
in
a
window
seat
next
to
Ramamoorthy,
whose
wife
was
in
the
aisle
seat.
The victim said that she fell asleep and woke up to discover a hand in her pants and noticed that her pants were unbuttoned and her shirt untied. When she woke up, the man stopped, and the woman alerted a flight attendant, the report said.
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Ramamoorthy initially told investigators that he was in a deep sleep and did not do anything, it said.
Later, he told an FBI agent he "might have" undone the woman's bra and cupped her breast, according to court records, the report added.