VoxVibe

The internet has been left in shock after a man revealed how his wife was allegedly assaulted by a man during a recent flight from Orlando to Phoenix.

On Saturday, Faraaz Sareshwala shared a Twitter thread with his followers detailing the incident, which took place on flight 1630 operated by Southwest Airlines.

With 39 flights a week going between the Orlando International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Sareshwala's wife, Saarah, was on a journey that takes just over four hours after speaking at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Orlando.

In the Twitter thread that has now gained viral attention—with 115,000 likes as of Tuesday—Saarah's husband explained that she was resting her head on the tray table when the incident began.

"This man violently pushed his seat back in an attempt to hurt Saarah while her head was there," wrote Sareshwala, who is a software engineer for Google, according to his Twitter bio.

"After coming to, she initially thought it was an accident; someone falling down in their own seat after returning from the bathroom or something," he wrote. "Thinking she might have bumped the man's chair while sleeping, Saarah went to the bathroom to check her injuries. Sitting next to her were a mother and daughter who were awake when all this occurred. They asked for ice from the crew for Saarah and confronted the man."

But when confronted, the man was not pleased and responded by shouting and swearing at the three women. After the interaction, Saarah informed the flight crew who initially offered to switch her seat.

"Only when the mother brought up (to another flight attendant) that this was actually physical assault, they offered to call the police," wrote Sareshwala.

She chose not to switch seats because she felt safer with the women she was sitting with, but Sareshwala said it didn't stop there.

"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," explained Sareshwala.

As passengers nearby started to notice the issue, Sareshwala said the man's attitude changed: "[He] suddenly became very chatty with others around him, complimenting potential witnesses. Police escorted Saarah to a safe area to get her story and barred the aggressor and his wife from leaving."

A spokesperson from Southwest Airlines told Newsweek: "After being made aware of a situation on a Southwest flight Saturday, 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."

"Saarah never even exchanged any words with this man before or after the incident," said Sareshwala. "Even if she did bump his seat by accident, it didn't warrant using racial slurs, misogynistic comments, or a violent, repeated, physical assault."

A spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department told Newsweek: "Phoenix police officers assigned to Sky Harbor Airport responded to a disturbance call in an airplane that landed in Phoenix. Officers were directed to two men involved in a disturbance. The officers conducted an assault investigation and a report was authored. Both men were released."

In a later tweet, Sareshwala said that the Phoenix police had sent the information to the FBI.

"They said 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," he wrote. "We don't have an FBI case number but the Phoenix police said that if the FBI thinks there is enough evidence to press charges they will reach back out."

"We still don't know why he became so violent," tweeted the husband. "However, I do know that my wife has never felt so violated, voiceless, and powerless."

Users on the social media platform were appalled by the account and rushed to share their good wishes for Saarah.

One reply said: "This man is plainly racist, rude, obnoxious, and dangerous. He should be charged with physical assault and barred from flying."

Another person tweeted: "I don't know why people like this don't get banned from flying. They're a menace to everyone else onboard."

Newsweek has reached out to Sareshwala for comment.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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