‘The Fu*king Bitch’: Indian American Software Engineer Assaulted and Racially Abused on a Southwest Flight
- Saarah Sareshwala was returning from a Women in Computing conference in Orlando, Florida when she experienced misogynistic comments and racial slurs from a man sitting ahead of her.
The FBI is investigating an incident on a Southwest Airlines flight where an Indian American woman traveling to Phoenix, Arizona, was assaulted by a fellow passenger. Saarah Sareshwala, a software engineer, was returning from a three-day “Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing” conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 24, when she experienced misogynistic comments and racial slurs from a man sitting ahead of her.
The incident was first detailed by her husband Faraaz Sareshwala in a now-viral tweet thread. The agony began when the passenger in the seat ahead of his wife, “violently pushed his seat back,” as she was “resting her head on the tray table,” the software engineer who works for Google, wrote, detailing the experiences his wife had on the four-hour flight.
Thinking that she might have “bumped the man’s chair while sleeping,” his wife “went to the bathroom to check her injuries,” he wrote. A mother-daughter duo sitting next here were awake when all this occurred, and asked for ice from the crew for her and confronted the man. But when confronted, “the man made the blah blah motion with his hands, and told the daughter to “stay in [her] fucking lane, bitch He then said about my wife that ‘the fu*king bitch got what was coming for her,’” wrote Sareshwala.
After the interaction, his wife informed the flight crew, who initially offered to switch her seat,” the tweet noted. “Only when the mother brought up (to another flight attendant) that this was actually physical assault, they offered to call the police,” the tweet continued.
His wife chose not to switch seats because “she felt safer with the women she was sitting with,” he wrote and added that this didn’t stop the man. “Throughout the rest of the flight, this man kept spewing racial slurs and misogynistic venom at Saarah. He kept pushing his seat back in an attempt to hurt Saarah.”
As passengers nearby started to notice the issue, Sareshwala said they started writing notes to his wife imploring her to talk to the crew and take action. He also posted one of the notes written by the mother.”Rather than having a civil discussion after Saarah bumped the man’s chair while resting her head, he slammed the chair back, hitting her head and never settled in his seat and started swearing and using racial and misogynistic slurs to Saarah,” it read.
At no point did she exchange words with the man before, during or after the incident. “Even if she did bump his seat by accident,” her husband wrote, “it didn’t warrant using racial slurs, misogynistic comments, or a violent, repeated, physical assault.”
As the passengers started deplaning, “the man suddenly became very chatty with others around him, complimenting potential witnesses,” he wrote. After landing, the police escorted Saarah Sareshwala to a safe area to get her story and barred the aggressor and his wife from leaving. They took everyone’s stories, and noted that “because the incident occurred above the gulf of Mexico, it was out of their jurisdiction and the FBI would have to get involved instead.”
A spokesperson from Southwest Airlines told Newsweek that after being made aware of the situation, “the crew requested law enforcement meet the aircraft upon arrival. Southwest Airlines maintains zero-tolerance for any type of alleged harassment or assault on our customers or employees.”
So far, the man accused is not facing any charges. However, Kenneth Ramage, a retired commercial airline pilot, told Arizona’s Family that “historically, that’s a big confrontational area because you have your space and that space is a tray table.”
As the teen went viral, many people advised Sareshwala. Some suggested suing the airline, while others called Southwest “a MAGA safe haven.” Some narrated past incidents and speculated that this would meet the same fate.
In an update, Sareshwala thanked all those who have offered support publicly and privately. “I showed Saarah the outpouring of love as well. It means the world,” he tweeted. “Sadly, some of you also shared your own similar stories. It makes me so sad reading what you all have gone through”