A Singapore court sentenced an Indian passenger to six months in jail on June 22, 2026, for molesting a Singapore Airlines (SQ) flight attendant during a flight from Bangkok to Singapore. Akash Tiwari, 35, touched the victim’s thigh and later her buttock while his friends laughed and watched, according to court documents cited by The Straits Times. He pleaded guilty to one count of molestation and one count of causing distress through threatening behaviour, and a judge also ordered him to pay the victim about S$1,270.95 in compensation.
The incident took place on February 9, 2026, aboard a Singapore-bound flight that departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Bangkok, Thailand. Tiwari was travelling with four friends who were rowdy and loud, frantically waving and laughing whenever a female crew member walked past their row. He brushed against the stewardess twice during the flight and then followed her into the galley after she reported him, leaving her in tears and shaking by the time the aircraft landed at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN).
What Happened on the Flight
The trouble started before the aircraft even left the gate in Bangkok. The victim approached Tiwari’s group to confirm their meal choices, and Tiwari stretched out his arm and brushed against her left upper thigh while she was speaking to one of his friends. The contact shocked the victim, but Tiwari and his friends responded by laughing.
One of his friends, identified in court as Jay Shankar, added to the harassment. He burst out laughing and told the victim he would like to have a beer and watch the “show”. The remark captures the group dynamic that prosecutors highlighted in court: a deliberate, collective mockery of the victim rather than an isolated lapse by one passenger.
The victim reported the first incident right away. She told the chief stewardess what had happened, and the crew moved her to a different aisle to avoid the offender. The move did not stop Tiwari. As she pushed a meal cart with her back turned toward him, he used his left elbow to nudge her buttock while she collected trays from passengers, according to Malay Mail’s account of the prosecution’s case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynda Lee told the court that the victim confronted him directly after the second touch. “She was very upset and told the accused not to touch her. Instead of apologising, he smirked,” Lee told the court. The victim and the chief stewardess then confronted Tiwari together, but he remained unapologetic and insisted he had done nothing wrong.
The Confrontation in the Galley
The situation escalated as the flight prepared to land. The captain announced the descent, and the victim retreated to the galley, a narrow space at the front of the cabin. Tiwari followed her there. He stood extremely close to her and cornered her at a moment when no one else was present, according to the South China Morning Post.
The victim tried repeatedly to get him to back off. She told him to stay away, but he moved even closer and cornered her instead of leaving. She then shouted for him to stop following her and tried to leave the galley, but he kept pursuing her. Other passengers in the aisle witnessed the encounter, which gave investigators independent witnesses beyond the crew.
Tiwari only stopped when the victim reached the chief stewardess for help. By that point, the victim was in tears, visibly frightened, and shaking. Meanwhile, the chief stewardess had separately alerted her supervisor and the flight captain, who reported the matter through the proper channels before the aircraft landed.
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How the Case Reached Court
The chain of reporting worked exactly as airline safety procedures intend. The crew flagged the incident to the captain mid-flight, and a police report was lodged, leading to Tiwari’s arrest when the aircraft arrived at Changi Airport. Singapore’s police and prosecutors then built a case around the crew’s contemporaneous reports and the passenger witnesses in the aisle.
Tiwari pleaded guilty to both charges instead of contesting them at trial. The two charges were:
- One count of molestation, covering the physical contact during meal service.
- One count of causing distress through threatening behaviour, covering the pursuit into the galley.
A district judge handed down the sentence on June 22, 2026: six months in jail, plus an order to pay the victim S$1,270.95 in compensation. Tiwari faces an additional five days behind bars if he fails to make that payment, The Straits Times reported.
How this Case Compares with Other Onboard Misconduct Involving the Carrier
Singapore Airlines has dealt with a string of unrelated passenger misconduct cases in recent years, and this incident fits a wider pattern that airlines across the industry have struggled to contain. Most reported cases involving SQ passengers have centred on disruptive behaviour, intoxication, or in-flight disputes rather than physical harassment of crew, which makes the Tiwari case stand out for prosecutors and for the airline’s cabin crew union advocates.
What separates this case from typical unruly-passenger incidents is the group element. Reports from multiple outlets, including Mothership and Malay Mail, describe friends actively encouraging the harassment rather than staying silent or intervening. That detail has drawn attention from commentators who argue it shows how group dynamics can escalate harassment that a lone passenger might not have attempted.
Singapore Airlines has not issued a public statement specific to this case beyond cooperating with the police investigation, and the airline’s standard policy directs crew to report any physical contact from passengers immediately, which is what happened here.
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Why this Case Matters for Cabin Crew Safety
Cabin crew unions and aviation safety advocates have long pushed for harsher, faster legal consequences for passengers who harass flight attendants, arguing that crew members face unique vulnerability in confined cabin spaces. This case shows the reporting chain working as designed: the victim reported the first touch immediately, the crew reassigned her, and the captain was informed before the flight landed.
The case also illustrates a recurring problem in aviation safety: a single reassignment within the cabin does not guarantee a victim’s safety from a determined harasser. Tiwari was able to follow the victim into the galley despite her being moved away from him earlier in the flight, which points to a gap in onboard intervention that occurs anywhere offenders are not physically restrained or formally warned before the original assignment change.