Indian who fondled woman in US-bound flight sorry for ‘moment’s stupidity’

On an US-bound Air India flight from Mumbai, the man is accused of touching one of the breasts of the woman after she fell asleep.

An Indian citizen living in New Jersey wrote notes to a woman apologising for fondling her on a flight from India to Newark, calling it a “moment’s stupidity.”

On an US-bound Air India flight from Mumbai, the man is accused of touching one of the breasts of the woman after she fell asleep. (HT file photo)

Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Ganesh Parkar, of Robbinsville, moved from his ticketed seat in business class on Wednesday and sat next to a woman in economy class on an Air India flight from Mumbai. They say he touched one of her breasts after she fell asleep.

Investigators say he apologised in two short notes written while on the flight.

Parkar was charged on Thursday with abusive sexual contact and was released on a $50,000 bond, but was put under home electronic monitoring and ordered to relinquish his passport.

The charge carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.

Parkar’s attorney says his client “asserts his innocence.”