Indonesian man, 20, who molested girl, 17, on Scoot flight to S'pore gets 15 months' jail & 3 strokes of cane

On a layover, a Scoot flight to Singapore, an Indonesian national molested the female passenger beside him while she was asleep.

He was 20, while she was 17 at the time of the incident on Apr. 15.

He touched her inappropriately on her thigh, back, abdomen, hip, butt, and breasts, with skin-to-skin contact.

Despite her attempt to move her body away from the man, he continued to touch her, causing her to feel scared and violated, according to court documents.

On Jun. 3, Ariel Lhudfiyan Muarifin pleaded guilty in court to one charge of using criminal force with the intent to outrage a person's modesty.

He was sentenced to jail for one year and three months, and three strokes of the cane.

A sudden urge

Ariel, a resident of Central Java, was working as a construction worker in Okinawa, Japan, at the time.

He took a Scoot flight from Okinawa to Singapore around 9:15am on Apr. 15, planning to return to Indonesia through Singapore.

On the plane, the victim sat in a seat labelled A, which typically indicates a window seat on Scoot flights. Ariel sat in the next seat labelled B.

They both fell asleep as soon as they reached their respective seats, but Ariel woke up shortly after and noticed that the victim's left forearm and left leg made contact with his body, he claimed.

He described the victim as "quite pretty", and said their body contact caused him to have the sudden urge and desire to touch her.

Not deterred

Ariel first stroked the victim's thigh with his hand, then moved to her abdomen, hip, and breast.

This lasted for about 30 seconds, the victim said.

She tried to slide her body away from him, but he was not deterred.

He continued to touch her inappropriately, including sliding his hand down her pants and underwear to stroke her butt.

When the victim turned to look Ariel, he had his eyes closed. As she was wary of him, she also closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

The touching went on for about another five minutes and only stopped after she opened her eyes. His eyes were closed again when she looked at him.

According to court documents, the victim, feeling extremely scared, violated, uncomfortable, trapped, and helpless, got up from her seat and told an air stewardess what had happened.

Scoot subsequently made a police report that a passenger was molested onboard, and Ariel was arrested at Changi Airport Terminal 1 about two hours after the plane landed in Singapore.

Sentencing

The prosecutor sought a sentence of between 14 and 16 months in prison, along with three to five strokes of the cane.

Ariel pleading guilty early in the proceedings entitled him to a sentencing discount of up to 30 per cent, which is taken into account in this proposed sentence, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor argued that the degree of sexual exploitation was high, the circumstances of the offence were aggravated, and the harm caused to the victim was at least moderate.

"The accused did not act on impulse or in a moment of confusion — rather, he weaponised his proximity to the victim on the flight and repeatedly outraged her modesty, persisting even after she expressed discomfort," the prosecutor said.