INDIAN DOC HELD FOR GROPING SLEEPING TEEN ON FLIGHT IN US

NEW YORK: A 28-year-old Indian doctor has been arrested for allegedly groping a minor girl who was sitting next to him on a New Jersey-bound United Airlines flight, according to media reports.

The 16-year-old girl, who was travelling alone on July 23, was asleep when a stranger’s hand on her thigh awakened her, the Washington Post reported.

The man, identified as Vijakumar Krishnappa, sitting next to her quickly removed his hand, according to a federal court complaint, and the teenager went back to sleep.

She reported the incident to the airline crew and was allowed to move seats. Once the flight from Seattle landed at Newark Liberty International Airport, the girl, from Washington state, called her parents. The accused meanwhile left the airport, said Johnny McCray, an attorney for the girl’s family, which has filed a complaint against United Airlines for failing to detain Krishnappa after the alleged assault, the report said. The FBI was called to handle the investigation. It used the flight manifest to track down Krishnappa, a doctor from India. The girl identified him from a photo array, ABC reported.

Krishnappa was charged in the federal court in Newark, a day after the incident, according to court records filed by the FBI charging him with criminal sexual contact. Court records show he was arrested and charged with knowingly engaging in sexual contact with a minor female.

He has been released on bond, placed on electronic monitoring, and ordered to not have any contact with minors while the criminal case is pending, as per court records. Krishnappa’s court-appointed attorney, John Yauch, told the Post his client “adamantly denies the charges and deserves to be considered an innocent man.”