A 58-year old Indian man is facing charges of sexual harassment of a woman after the man allegedly touch her inappropriately on a flight while she was asleep.
sitting next to him on a flight from Los Angeles to New Jersey.
Veerabhadrarao Kunam, from Andhra Pradesh in India was sitting next to the woman on a flight from Los Angeles to New Jersey. He has been charged with one count of abusive sexual contact.
He appeared before US Magistrate Judge Joseph Dickson on Tuesday in Newark federal court and was released on a $50,000 secured bond.
The charge carries a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a $2,50,000 fine.
Kunam was arrested on July 30 when his flight arrived at Newark and was taken into federal custody by the FBI.
After the woman realised what had happened, she alerted her travel companion and a flight crew member about the incident.
Kunam was then moved to another seat.
The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur on aircraft in flight in the US.
A spokesperson of the airline said in a statement that the plane’s crew was “alerted to reports of a disruptive individual who was accused of inappropriately touching a fellow passenger.”
“Our crew are trained for such situations, and they immediately moved the individual in question to another seat, monitored him to ensure he did not move from his seat, and alerted law enforcement, who were waiting for the aircraft when it arrived at the New Jersey airport,” he said
