Scores of netizens are livid about a young woman’s revelation on being silenced by an airline after reporting an incident of sexual advances by a fellow passenger.
“The man was like 50-60s and I was so uncomfy @spiritairlines #fyp#foryou #harassmentawareness.” wrote the 18-year-old, expressing her anguish on TikTok after a harrowing experience on an early morning (6 am) flight to California. She categorically mentioned how the man’s inappropriate advances became evident after she first felt his hand around the back of the seat.
The incident, which occurred shortly after take-off, happened just as she was reading her book and felt a slight touch on her breast—a feeling she reportedly described as “someone caressing her”. “I wonder what this feeling could be, it was really subtle, and I reached my hand over and touched his fingertips,” she added.
Just to be doubly sure, she moved away from the side of the seat—only to find the man’s hand grasping at the air between the seat gap, as he tried to touch her again. She was traveling with her family, but they weren’t seated together. She however alerted her sister, who was seated elsewhere.
The teen captured the entire episode on video as she didn’t want the disgusting harasser to walk away scot-free, which was eventually uploaded on social media. The lady also alleged that she tolerated it for almost an hour to get meaty footage of his vile act.
“F*** you spirit airlines,” she captioned the video, further enthusing, “I realized that the man behind me is touching me, so I move my arm out of the way. I thought it would stop there because he knows that I know that he was touching me because our fingertips literally touched.”
When she first began to show the video to other passengers who’d onboarded the flight along with the attendants, things got awry after she was asked to “sit down and stay quiet”, while the man tried to deny it. “That made me really upset that no one cared that I was going through that for so long.
'The fact that I had to sit there to prove this just speaks a lot, speaks volumes,” she added. She further alleged, as reported by Daily Mail, that at one point in time she wedged her sweater in between the seat in an attempt to "stop" it herself, but he “moved it and continued”.
As the video garnered momentum online, the woman was flooded with support online, with a volley of users urging her to file a lawsuit against Spirit Airlines, as stated in News.com.au. The young girl suggested that she was waiting for a bit because she believed the incident was being investigated and sincerely hoped for the airlines to identify the abuser and charge him accordingly.
