Man arrested for harassing woman co-passenger on Frankfurt-Bengaluru flight

The police in Karnataka state have arrested a 52-year-old man on charges of sexually harassing a woman co-passenger on a flight, an official said on Wednesday.

The arrested individual has been identified as Sankaranarayanan Renganathan.

The woman, 32, had lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) police station in this regard.

The woman, who hails from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, mentioned in her complaint that on Nov.6, she was travelling on Lufthansa Airlines from Frankfurt to Bengaluru.

"In the midst of the journey, I fell asleep. When I woke up after some time, I noticed that the man (accused co-passenger) had placed his hand on my private parts. I had pushed away his hand and went back to sleep," the complaint read.

"When I woke up again after around 15 minutes, I noticed that the accused had once again placed his hand on my private parts between legs. I then dragged his hand off, called the airline staff and informed them about the matter," she mentioned in the FIR. Later, the woman was shifted mid-journey to a different seat.

After the flight landed at the Bengaluru International Airport, the accused was taken to the police station and he was arrested after the woman filed a complaint against him on Tuesday.

The police have registered a case under IPC Section 354 A (engaging in unwelcome, explicit sexual behaviour, sexual harassment).