Indian national charged in Singapore over in-flight molestation of four women: Report

The district court fixed a total of seven molestation charges on the accused Indian national

A court in Singapore charged a 73-year-old Indian national on Monday for allegedly molesting four women while on board a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from the United States to Singapore. The person, identified as Balasubramaniam Ramesh is said to have molested four different women on the same flight, The Straits Times reported.

The accused is facing seven counts of molestation(Representational/ Pixabay)

Ramesh is accused of molesting one of the women four times and is said to have targeted the three others once each on the flight on November 18. The district court fixed a total of seven molestation charges, according to a report by The Straits Times.

It is still not clear if the victims were fellow passengers or cabin crew members. While that could come to light on a later date, they cannot be named due to a gag order to protect their identities, the report added.

The case and what could happen next

All the victims are said to have been molested at different times during the day. Ramesh is accused of molesting the first alleged victim at around 3:15 am and his second alleged victim about five minutes later during the flight. He allegedly molested the second woman three more times between 3:30 am and 6 am.

He is accused of “outraging the modesty” of a third woman at around 9:30 am and molesting the fourth woman at around 5:30 pm. He is expected to plead guilty in the court on December 13 and accept the terms of punishment for the crime, according to the reports in the Singapore media.

While the court could hand Ramesh a jail term of up to three years or a fine for each count of molestation, or receive any combination of such punishments. There is also a provision of caning a molester in Singapore although it won't apply is this case as the accused is over 50 years old.