A woman aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Philadelphia on Tuesday claims the man in the seat beside her repeatedly masturbated as she pled to staff over Twitter for help.
Elly Shariat immediately posted on Twitter during the flight as she began realising what the man next to her was doing.
“Uhh, South West Air, we have an issue,” she wrote on the platform, before detailing how the man next to her was watching porn, without headphones and had twice shaken “in the throes of his orgasmic bliss”.
Uhh @SouthwestAir we have an issue. I’ve spent this entire flight sitting next to a guy who has his iPad open on the tray table, watching porn, WITHOUT using headphones or anything, and twice now his body has started shaking in the throes of his orgasmic bliss. I’m so disgusted. pic.twitter.com/3an0ukXXyt
— the real elly-ice™ (@shariatPR) May 29, 2018
“I’m so disgusted,” she added.
Speaking about the incident to Fox News, the woman claims when the man was “finished”, he used his left hand to grip her right forearm.
“It made it clear to me how strong he was, given how forceful his grip was, which is why I felt uncomfortable and reached out to SW on Twitter — hoping they’d ask my seat number and notify someone — because I didn’t know if he’d try to physically do anything else if I went to take a photo or video, nor did I want to find out,” she told the news outlet.
As she was in the air, the airline responded to her tweets, instructing her to ask the cabin crew for help.
This is never something that we want to have happen on our flights. Please be sure to reach out to one of the Flight Attendants onboard your flight. -Heather
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) May 29, 2018
There’s literally no way to do that without putting myself at risk. He’s in the window seat. I’m in the middle. And there’s someone dead asleep to my left. I can’t move. Which is why I purchased WiFi to tweet you.
— the real elly-ice™ (@shariatPR) May 29, 2018
However, she disputed their requests, arguing by doing that, she would be “putting [herself] at risk”.
She added the man handed his used napkins – the ones he used to “finish” – to the flight attendant to throw away.
“There’s no way your staff working on this flight haven’t witnessed what’s been happening.”
The airline responded once again, suggesting she tell the crew upon landing.
If you feel more comfortable, you can speak to the Crew once you land. We want to be able to help, and the best way to do so is to contact the Crew directly onboard your flight. -Heather
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) May 29, 2018
Fine. I will stay aboard until everyone else gets off the flight, continuing the torture, because that’s exactly what someone who is being assaulted like this wants to do.
— the real elly-ice™ (@shariatPR) May 29, 2018
Replying to a comment on Twitter, Shariat said she hoped her being public about the incident and assault would help prevent it from happening again.
“I hope my coming forward about this will help bring about some immediate and overdue changes in the industry to properly address these situations and prevent them from happening in the first place.”
Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, confirmed to Fox News they were investigating the complaints.
“We’re looking into reports that a Customer was viewing material deemed inappropriate by another Customer. At this time we have nothing further to share.”
This is certainly not the first time male passengers have been accused of inappropriate behaviour.
In April last year, a woman filed a lawsuit against Delta Airlines claiming no one helped her when a man sat down beside her and sexually assaulted her.
And in December, a 17-year-old said a man began rubbing his foot against her while she was trying to sleep.
If this article brings up any issues for you, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).