73-year-old Indian man booked for molesting 4 women 7 times on Singapore Airlines flight

Balasubramanian Ramesh is scheduled to plead guilty and faces 21 years in jail. (File photo)

A 73-year-old Indian man has been charged with molesting four women on a Singapore Airlines flight from the US to Singapore. The incident reportedly took place on November 18 and Balasubramanian Ramesh has been accused of targeting the four women over 14 hours. He is scheduled to plead guilty on December 13, and if convicted, he can face a maximum jail term of 21 years, The Straits Times reported.

Balasubramanian appeared in a Singapore court on November 25 and is facing seven charges of molestation after the women alleged that he molested one of them four times and the other three once each. The sexual assault happened at different times of the day. The identities of the women have not been revealed.

According to the time stamps shared in court, the molestations aboard the Singapore Airlines flight began at 3.15 am, when Balasubramanian reportedly targeted his first victim. Five minutes later, he molested another woman. Between 3.30 am and 6 am, he allegedly assaulted the second victim three more times. The third and fourth women were targeted at 9.30 am and 5.30 pm.

In Singapore, each molestation charge carries a potential penalty of up to three years in jail, a fine, or both. Caning is also a possible punishment for molestation in the country but it does not apply to those over 50. Since Balasubramanian is 73, he is exempt from it.

In a similar incident in India, the Chennai Police arrested a 45-year-old man in October for allegedly molesting a woman co-passenger onboard a Delhi-Chennai IndiGo flight.

The alleged incident took place on October 9 when both the accused, Rakesh Sharma, and the female passenger were traveling to Chennai.

A Chennai police official told India Today that the woman was seated in a window seat inside the flight. Sharma, who was sitting behind her, allegedly touched her inappropriately.

The woman reported the man's conduct to the flight attendants. Upon the flight's arrival at Chennai airport, the man was apprehended following the woman's complaint to the police.