Indian man travelling with wife beside him accused of molesting women co-passenger on plane

Las Vegas : A 34-year-old Indian man has been arrested over charges of sexually abusing his woman co-passenger on an overnight flight when she fell asleep besides him.

The man, identified as Prabhu Ramamoorthy, is an Indian origin man living in the United States on a temporary visa. He was held without bail after an appearance in federal court in Michigan on Thursday.

Ramamoorthy is accused of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old girl sitting in a window seat next to him on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas. He was on the flight with his wife sitting on the other side.

The victim girl told cops that when she woke up her pants and shirts were unbuttoned and the man's hand inside her pants.

Federal prosecutor Amanda Jawad said that Ramamoorthy sat between his wife and the victim. He stopped after the victim woke up, and the woman went to the back of the plane to report the incident to a flight attendant, the criminal complaint said.

Ramamoorthy was taken into custody soon after the plane landed in Detroit early on Jan. 3.