Indian jailed for nine years in US for sexual assault on airplane

Federal prosecutors in Detroit are seeking 130 months imprisonment for an Indian national who is in the US on H1B visa for committing one of the most brazen aeroplane sexual assaultsPrabhu Ramamoorthy who was arrested following the alleged incident in flight from Las Vegas to Detroit in January is slated to be produced before a Detroit court Thursday afternoon A federal jury has already convicted him of sexual assaultWhile seated next to his wife Ramamoorthy took advantage of a 22yearold woman travelling alone federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memo ahead of his appearance before the courtAs she slept on a latenight flight he untied her shirt unzipped her pants and shoved his fingers inside of her with such force that it woke her up the prosecutors saidIt was only then that he stopped turned the other way and pretended to sleep on his wife When confronted by law enforcement he claimed that he had been in a deep sleep and insisted that he did not intentionally touch her they saidHours later after relaying multiple different versions of the event he finally admitted to touching her intentionallyThen at trial he violated her even further by accusing her of imagining the whole thing He refused to take responsibility for his actions and instead deflected blame onto her the federal prosecutors saidRamamoorthy is from Tamil Nadu Son of a farmer he came to the US in July 2015 after his graduation to work as an IT professionalDuring his trial he presented himself before the court as a confused man stranded in America without English language skills despite his sophisticated technological job the prosecutors saidHis lack of empathy and remorse should not go unnoticed by this court they argued seeking nearly 11 years of imprisonment for himThe prosecutor urged the court that Ramamoorthy should not be deported to India before completing his jail sentenceIndividuals who come to America and commit sexual assaults should not simply be permitted to return to their home countries without fair punishment the federal prosecutors saidRamamoorthys lawyers urged the court for a minimum incarceration period arguing that he has no criminal history and led a normal crimefree lifeHis life is effectively over Ramamoorthys lawyer told the court adding As a result of this case he will have been incarcerated assaulted in custody and eventually will be released to a life of shaming and great difficultiesIn recent years a number of Indian nationals have been arrested or charged with sexual assaults inside a plane The FBI says aeroplane sexual assault is a serious offence that is on the rise FBI statistics indicate that investigations of midair sexual assaults increased by 66 per cent from 2014 to 2017That is in part due to increasingly cramped confined spaces alcohol and drugs fewer flight attendants and dark cabins on night flights factors that likely embolden offenders the FBI said in a recent reportThe cramped style of aeroplane seating can exacerbate trauma for victims According to mental health professionals victims who are violated in confined spaces feel even more helpless vulnerable and powerlessVictims may also feel intimidated by the person sitting next to them since the seating arrangement means that the perpetrator is effectively blocking the victim from getting up according to the FBICatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in the headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever