A Singapore court on Tuesday charged 35-year-old Indian national Akash Tiwari with allegedly molesting and harassing an air stewardess on a Singapore Airlines flight from Bangkok to Singapore last month. He faces a charge of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of the victim after allegedly initiating non-consensual physical contact, and a separate charge of causing distress by using threatening behaviour.
Court records show Tiwari has indicated he will plead not guilty. The alleged offences occurred on February 9, and police said they were alerted to the incident at about 4:30 pm that day. Preliminary investigations found the stewardess was serving the man near his seat when he allegedly touched her inappropriately; she warned him to stop and went to the galley to prepare for landing.
Tiwari was arrested after the plane landed, and officers from the Airport Police Division conducted follow-up investigations. He is due back in court on March 26 for a pre-trial conference. Police said such offenders will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law.
Those who use criminal force with the intent to outrage modesty face up to three years’ jail, fines, caning, or any combination of these punishments. Offenders who intentionally cause harassment can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to SGD 5,000.
