The actress said she could not get a shot of the molester as lights in the cabin were dim
Twitter has reacted strongly after a teenage actress on Sunday said she was molested on board an Air Vistara flight by a male passenger sitting behind her. The actress made her way to Twitter's top trend on Sunday morning after netizens condemned the alleged molestation in angry words and tweeted in her support. "The person who doesn't how to sit in a flight is not a person actually he's an animal with a boarding pass," read a tweet while another user wrote: "I am SHOCKED." In Instagram stories posted around midnight, the actress alleged the man rubbed his foot against her neck and back, and even had his foot placed on her arm rest. "This is the worst thing," she said in an Instagram live video. She was travelling from Delhi to Mumbai.
The actress broke down in the live video as she said, "So, I just landed and you know the whole irony of this is that the guy... this is not done at all. This is not the way, this is not a girl should be made to feel because this is terrible. Is this how they are doing to take care of girls? No one will help us if we don't decide to help ourselves." The alleged molester "must be shamed," said Twitter. "I support young girl for her courage. We are with you," added a tweet.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted that legal action should be taken. "The passenger should be identified to the police by
@airvistara & a case filed for legal action. None of this "he fell at my feet so I forgive him" rubbish!" he said.
"Such kind of many sexual harassments goes unreported..but this tym we won't let it happen.. spread the news so that pervert gets legal punishment," tweeted a user called Rahul Deb.
"And this... shows that middle age men still believe that groping women is "normal". These men should be beaten up," said Anupam Gupta.
"The person who don't how to sit in a flight is not a person actually he's a animal with a boarding pass.@airvistara look into the matter asap," tweeted Naveen Pal Singh.
"...you should have raised your objection and slapped that creep than and there shame them publicly this creeps have been brought up in such a mannerisms that they deserve public punishment you have done no wrong stop crying next time fight back hit them hard," said Abdul Quadeer.
"I would suggest please stop crying put yourself together and go to an adult you trust and explain the whole incident. File a sexual assault case against that man and I'm sure from the flight details we can chalk down the man's name and address," Pooja Singh wrote.
In separate Instagram stories around midnight, the actress had said she could just manage a shot of the man's leg as the lights were dim. "Managed to get this (shot of the molester's foot). The lights were dimmed so it was even worse. It continued for another 5-10 minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck," she uploaded. In another post, she added: "I tried to record it on my phone to understand it better. But because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it. I ignored it the first time, blamed the turbulence for it. Until I woke up to this pleasant sight of his beautiful foot rubbing my back and neck... Guess he couldn't sit like a civilized human being and placed his foot on my arm rest while he's fully 'pheloaed' his body on his seat (sic)."
The 39-year-old Mumbai businessman, identified as Vikas Sachdev, has been arrested and will be produced in court today.
(This story has been updated to remove the actor's name since she is a minor.)