Indian Techie Gets 9 Years In Jail For Sex Assault In Plane

WASHINGTON: An Indian man living in the U.S. on a work visa was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a sleeping woman during an overnight flight to Detroit. Prabhu Ramamoorthy, 35, who came to the US on a H-1B visa in 2015, will be deported after he serves his sentence, a federal court in Detroit said as it sentenced the Indian national to nine years of imprisonment.

The woman said she had woken up to find her shirt and trousers unbuttoned and his hand in her trousers.Ramamoorthy will be deported back to India after he serves his sentence, a federal court in Detroit said.Investigators say Ramamoorthy was in a middle seat sitting next to the victim, and his wife was sitting next to the aisle. Prosecutors called it a "brazen" assault and had asked for an 11-year prison sentence.

Ramamoorthy initially told investigators he had taken a pill and fallen into a deep sleep, so couldn't have knowingly assaulted the woman.He said he could only recall later learning from his wife that the woman was sleeping on his knees. Ramamoorthy and his wife later acknowledged the pill was just Tylenol, according to prosecutors, and gave conflicting reports of the events.