The internet has been rocked after a man revealed his wife was beaten by a man on a recent flight from Orlando to Phoenix.
On Saturday, Faraaz Sareshwala shared a twitter thread His followers detailed the incident, which occurred on Southwest Airlines flight 1630.
With 39 weekly flights between Orlando International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, it took just over four hours for Sareshwala’s wife, Saarah, to speak at the Grace Hopper Women in Computing Celebration conference in Orlando. journey of.
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In a Twitter thread that has now gained viral attention — 115,000 likes as of Tuesday — Saarah’s husband explained that she was resting her head on a tray table when the incident began.
“The man pushed the seat back violently, trying to hurt Sarah,” wrote Google’s software engineer Sareshwara, a software engineer at Google, according to his Twitter bio.
“When she woke up, she initially thought it was an accident; someone came back from the bathroom and fell on their seat or something,” he wrote. “Thinking she might have hit the man’s chair while she was sleeping, Saarah went to the bathroom to check on her injuries. Sitting next to her were a mother and daughter who were still awake when this happened. They asked the crew for Saarah Ice cubes and confront them. Man.”
But when confronted, the man was not happy and responded by yelling and cursing at the three women. After the interaction, Saarah notified the crew who had initially offered to change seats.
“It was only when the mother suggested (to another flight attendant) that it was actually a personal attack, that they called the police,” Sareshwara wrote.
She chose not to switch seats because she felt safer with the woman she was sitting with, but Sareshwala said it didn’t stop there.
“The man had been spewing racial slurs and misogynistic venom at Sarah for the rest of the flight. He kept pushing the seat back and trying to hurt Sarah,” Sareshwara explained.
Sareshwala said the man’s attitude changed as nearby passengers began to notice the problem: “[He] Suddenly becomes chatty with those around him, praising potential witnesses. Police escorted Sarah to a safe place to hear her story and forbade the assailant and his wife from leaving. “
A Southwest Airlines spokesman told Weekly newspaper“After learning of the circumstances of the Southwest Airlines flight on Saturday, the crew requested that law enforcement meet with the aircraft upon arrival. Southwest Airlines maintains zero tolerance for any type of alleged harassment or assault on our customers or employees. “
“Saarah never even exchanged any words with this person before or after the incident,” Sareshwala said. “Even if she did accidentally bump into his seat, it’s not worth using racial slurs, misogynistic comments or violent, repeated physical attacks.”
A spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department told Weekly newspaper: “Phoenix police officers assigned to Sky Harbor Airport responded to a riot call from a plane that had landed in Phoenix. Officers were dispatched to the two men involved in the riot. Officers conducted an assault investigation and wrote a report. Two All have been released.”
In a later tweet, Sareshwara said Phoenix police had sent the information to the FBI.
“They said the FBI would have to step in because the incident took place over the Gulf of Mexico, beyond their jurisdiction,” he wrote. “We don’t have an FBI case number, but the Phoenix Police have said that if the FBI believes there is enough evidence to make a charge, they will withdraw it.”
“We still don’t know why he became so violent,” the husband tweeted. “However, I do know that my wife has never felt so violated, silent and powerless.”
Users on the social media platform were shocked by the account and scrambled to share their best wishes for Saarah.
One reply said: “This man is clearly racist, rude, obnoxious and dangerous. He should be charged with assault and banned from flying.”
Another tweeted: “I don’t know why people like this are not banned from flying. They are a threat to others on board.”
Weekly newspaper Sareshwala has been contacted for comment.