A man flying from Abu Dhabi to Boston reportedly masturbated in his seat after relentlessly hitting on a female passenger, grabbing her breasts, and snapping photos without permission on Monday.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court, Krishna Kunapuli, 39, was spotted “actively masturbating” after a woman in a nearby row rebuffed his crude advances.
Flight EY7 was four hours into its journey on 21 October when Mr Kunapuli, in seat 38A, began to harass an unidentified woman in seat 44G after moving row while he waited for the lavatory, says the affidavit.
Mr Kunapuli soon started “complimenting [the passenger] on her looks, telling her that she was beautiful”, “bragged about his wealth” and asked the woman “if she would spend the night with him in Boston, and offered to give her $5,000 as a gift,” it added.
Allegedly, Mr Kunapuli then “started to touch [the woman’s] hair and brush it with his fingers back from her face”.
The female passenger used Wi-Fi issues as an excuse to alert a flight attendant in the galley of the unwanted advances.
Cabin crew on the 14-hour Etihad Airways flight then notified law enforcement of the indecent behaviour, states an FBI affidavit attached to the complaint.
The affidavit says a flight attendant had assumed they were “a romantically involved couple” after seeing Mr Kunapuli grabbing the woman’s breast and taking pictures.
According to the complaint, Mr Kunapuli was then suspected of masturbating under a blanket by other passengers after being directed back to his seat by the crew.
One passenger told authorities that Mr Kunapuli’s penis was then “exposed” and “masturbating” for around 10 minutes before he was confronted to stop.
FBI agents, along with Massachusetts State Police investigators, met the plane upon landing at Boston Logan International Airport and removed him from the aircraft.
Under questioning, he “admitted to investigators that he did masturbate while in his seat on EY7”, says the affidavit.
Mr Kunapuli faces one count of lewd, indecent and obscene acts while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, and, if convicted, up to 90 days in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
The Indian national does not yet have an attorney listed in court records and was not able to be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Etihad Airways did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
In 2022, a man aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle to Phoenix was hit with federal charges for masturbating at least four times during the three-hour trip, later telling police he thought his vulgar actions were “kind of kinky.”
Antonio Sherrodd McGarity allegedly pulled down his pants and started touching himself moments after the flight took off.
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said Mr McGarity faces a ban for life from flying the airline.
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