Horrified mum woke up mid-flight to man ‘performing sex act’ on her ‘wet leggings’

Beaut Pimpaporn, 33, was returning home from a trip to Milan, Italy, and fell asleep on the flight only to be awoken by a stranger touching himself

A horrified FlyDubai passenger woke up to find a man allegedly performing a sex act on her mid-flight. Beaut Pimpaporn, 33, was returning home from a trip to Milan, Italy, when she caught a connecting flight in Dubai for the onward journey to Bangkok, Thailand.

The mother-of-one took sleeping pills while her four-year-old daughter napped on her lap during the six-hour journey on flight FZ-1583. But she was horrified when she woke to allegedly find the passenger next to her squeezing her backside while touching himself on August 3.

She claims she found semen on the right side of her upper right thigh when she awoke. Beaut said the man quickly withdrew his hand, covered it with his jacket and pretended to adjust the entertainment screen in front of her seat while repeatedly glancing at her.

Not wanting to spark panic on the aircraft, she said she waited until the plane landed at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok before alerting cabin crew. A female flight attendant then spotted the white stain on her trousers and photographed it as evidence before the Pakistani passenger allegedly admitted groping her.

Beaut later made a police report. Bravely waving her right to anonymity, she said she wanted other women to know the risks of flying alone and have the courage to speak out if they are assaulted.

Recalling the incident onboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8, she said: “I did not understand everything the air hostess was saying to the man, because they were speaking in Arabic, but the flight attendant asked him whether he had done what I reported. At first, he denied it, but eventually he admitted what happened.

“After that, he came to me, cried, knelt down and begged for forgiveness. He kept saying he was sorry and that he would not do it again. But the flight attendant did not accept that. The flight attendant told him that this was serious and that police had to be involved.

“His friends also tried to come and ask for forgiveness on his behalf. They asked me to let him go and forgive him, but the flight attendant told those who were not involved to leave because this was a police matter.

“Later, I found out he came with a Pakistani tour group. He was travelling with friends or people from the same tour group, not with family. There were around four or five people who came and tried to intervene, and there may have been more because they travelled as a group.

“The flight attendant separated my child from the situation immediately. My daughter was taken away by the captain, so she would not see everything that happened.”

Tourist police and immigration officers later dragged the suspect off the plane and hauled him to the police station. Police Lieutenant Colonel Chamnanyut Konkong of the Don Mueang district station said officers would attempt to arrange mediation between the two parties.

He said: “The suspect has been denied entry into Thailand. We have scheduled the complainant to be interviewed this morning.

“He has not yet been investigated. The initial step will be to arrange a mediation between the two parties, as this is the normal procedure.”

Beaut said she would submit the clothing she was wearing as evidence, and intended to press charges and seek compensation.

She added that she decided to speak out to raise awareness about the risks faced by solo female travellers.

“Passengers are often sleeping during long flights, and women travelling alone can be vulnerable,” the mother said. “This happened even though I was travelling with my child. I cannot imagine what could happen to someone travelling alone who is too afraid to speak up.

“I want other women to know that they should not feel embarrassed. If something feels wrong, they should report it and ask for help. I decided to tell my story because I do not want anyone else to experience what I experienced.”

FlyDubai has been contacted for a comment.