Qatar Passenger Convicted of Sexual Assault
Jennifer Billock November 20, 2017
A young father groped a woman on a Qatar flight to Heathrow Airport (LHR) and is now facing the consequences.
Saranjeet Bassi, a 29-year-old father of three, is facing court-ordered consequences after he got drunk on a December 2016 Qatar flight to Heathrow and groped the breast of the woman in the seat in front of him. The woman, who was flying with her two children, decided to press charges and Bassi was arrested when the plane touched down.
“I feel what he did was sexual, the grabbing of my boob,” the woman said in a statement reported by the International Business Times. “I have a mix of emotions, I was angry and wanted him off the flight. I was with my kids and it makes me feel sick and violated. He took advantage and I don’t want him to do this to anyone else.”
Bassi was convicted of sexual assault. His sentence includes signing the sex offender registry for a term of five years, at least 100 days of alcohol rehab, a two-year community order, 200 hours of community service, and covering court costs of about $1,300. This was not Bassi’s first incident—in 2014 he was convicted of indecent exposure after masturbating in front of two women.
“Alcohol seems to have played a part and this was a consequence of having consumed too much and the abuse of alcohol that has played a part in his life up until now,” Matthew Pardoe, Bassi’s lawyer, told the International Business Times. “He is not a daily drinker, but a binge drinker and now says he has stopped completely. He is very scared about the prospect of going to prison.”
