Man held over sex attack on plane

AN Indian man accused of sexually assaulting a woman as she slept in the seat next to him on a flight has been arrested. Prabhu Ramamoorthy, 34, was sitting between his own wife and the alleged victim on a Spirit Airlines flight in the US. The woman said she woke up to find her shirt unbuttoned and the suspect’s hand in her trousers.

Mr Ramamoorthy, an Indian citizen living in the US on a temporary visa, denies the allegation. He claims he took a sleeping pill on the flight from Las Vegas to Detroit and slept throughout.

He was held without bail after appearing in court in Michigan charged with aggravated sexual abuse where prosecutors argued there was a risk he could abscond.

The woman reported the incident before the plane landed, according to the police complaint.

Mr Ramamoorthy’s wife alleged the woman had been sleeping on her husband’s knees and that the couple had requested a flight attendant seat the woman elsewhere.

Flight attendants say only the alleged victim asked for a seat change.