An Indian man, living in New Jersey, allegedly groped a woman onboard an Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark and later wrote that his actions were “stupid” in a pair of apology notes, authorities said on Thursday.
40-year-old Ganesh Parkar was detained on the woman’s complaint and was charged with abusive sexual contact in a federal court in Newark, New Jersey.
According to the authorities, Ganesh moved from his assigned business seat on the flight on Wednesday and sat next to a woman in the centre row of the economy class section, prosecutors said.
According to the complaint, the woman fell asleep and later woke up to discover that her blanket had been pulled off her body. After replacing the blanket and going back to sleep, the woman again woke up to find Parkar's hand inside her shirt, prosecutors said.
“What the hell are you doing?” the woman shouted at Parkar, and she immediately rushed to inform the airline crew of the incident, according to the criminal complaint.
The crew members then instructed Parkar to move back to his assigned seat.
Parkar repeatedly asked flight attendants to allow him to speak to the woman but his requests were denied. He wrote her two notes in which he apologised for a "moment's stupidity" and admitted he had been "stupid,".
Parkar was released on $50,000 (approx Rs 34 lakh) bond and ordered to remain under house arrest.
