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73-year-old man jailed for molesting SIA cabin crew on US-Singapore flight
During the flight from San Francisco, Balasubramanian Ramesh molested one of the victims four times and the other three women once each.
File photo of State Courts. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
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4 min
Vanessa Lim
02 Apr 2025 06:39PMBookmark
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SINGAPORE: A 73-year-old man who molested four air stewardesses during a Singapore Airlines flight from San Francisco to Singapore was sentenced to nine months’ jail on Wednesday (Apr 2).
Balasubramanian Ramesh pleaded guilty to four counts of molestation. Another three counts of molestation were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
According to court documents, Balasubramanian molested one of the women four times and targeted the three others once each because he found the women “attractive”.
The victims - who were all on duty at the time - cannot be named due to a gag order.
The offences took place on Nov 18, 2024, over a period of about 14 hours. The flight itself lasted approximately 17 hours.
According to court documents, Balasubramanian, who was a passenger onboard the aircraft, used his hand to stroke the first victim’s buttocks twice over her clothing as she was pushing the meal cart past his seat at around 3.30am Singapore time.
Shocked, she quickly walked away but felt discomforted by his actions.
Five minutes later, the accused molested another victim as she was bending over to serve food to the passenger seated across the aisle from him. He used his left hand to stroke her buttocks twice over her clothing.
Between 3.20am and 6am, he molested her another three times.
The court heard that the victim felt “extremely annoyed” and harassed by his actions.
At 9.30am, Balasubramanian molested a third victim as she was assisting the passenger seated next to him with his in-flight entertainment system. He did so by placing his hand on the victim’s right upper thigh over her clothing.
She quickly backed away but continued to feel shocked and overwhelmed nine hours later, the court heard.
At around 5.30pm, he molested a fourth victim while she was assisting the passenger seated next to him in adjusting their seat for landing. He placed his hand on her left upper thigh over her clothing.
However, as her colleagues had earlier advised her to be cautious around the accused, she stepped back immediately upon feeling physical contact.
When she later confronted him, he denied touching her.
The air stewardess and her supervisor then informed the accused that they were aware he had inappropriately touched several cabin crew members and that the matter would be reported to the police.
Upon arrival in Singapore, the victims' supervisor lodged a report at the SIA Control Centre, and the case was referred to the Airport Police Division. Balasubramanian was arrested on the same day.
On Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ashley Chin sought a sentence of between 9.5 and 12.5 months’ jail.
“The accused committed seven acts of molest on a single flight; he not only intentionally touched the buttocks and thighs of a total of four SIA air stewardesses, but also repeatedly and brazenly molested the first victim on a total of four occasions,” said Ms Chin in her submission.
She added that the fact that the offences had been carried out on board an aircraft and on air transportation workers were aggravating factors.
In seeking a lighter sentence, the defence lawyer said Balasubramanian had made “positive contributions” to society, noting that the Indian national had worked as a bank manager for a “reputable” bank in India.
In delivering the sentencing, District Judge Toh Han Li said it reflected the gravity of the accused’s conduct during a single flight, where he molested four victims who were air transportation workers.
He rejected the defence’s argument that his offences were committed in the “spur of moment”, pointing out that they took place over a 14-hour period.
