Woman’s quick thinking lets her discretely escape molester on domestic flight in Japan

Woman in Japan praised for quick thinking, discreetly escaping molester aboard plane

Netizens praised a woman in Japan for discreetly escaping from a molester who was placing his hand on her legs on a plane ride. She shared her account of the story on X, and the Japanese media subsequently covered it.

According to Maidona News, the woman was on a domestic All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight when the incident occurred.

Trapped in the window seat

When the man first began putting his hands on her, she said she tried wiggling and contorting her body away from him. Despite her best efforts to resist, the man did not stop.

Because she had the window seat, she felt trapped between him in the aisle seat and the plane. Leaving the seat meant addressing him directly, which could only lead to a confrontation.

Knowing that he could overhear anything she said, she reasoned that the only way to communicate in his presence without his awareness would be through writing.

She called over a flight attendant with the pretext of wanting to purchase something. With her plea already prepared on the screen, she handed her smartphone to the flight attendant and hoped for the best.

Source: @nekoobachi on X

Flight attendant quickly resolves issue

The woman recalls the flight attendant looking surprised for a brief moment before turning back to her and telling her to wait one moment. Soon after, she returned and asked the woman to accompany her to sort out their “purchasing issue”.

With that pretext, the flight attendant was able to extract the trapped woman with her molester none the wiser. The flight attendant took the woman to another area and offered her words of encouragement.

Source: ANA

Shortly after, they were able to swap her seat with another man, placing her next to another woman. Meanwhile, her molester now sat with another man next to him.

“I think there are a lot of women in Japan who have experienced being molested,” she said. “I want people to realise that they don’t have to just accept it if they are a victim.”

After they landed, the woman filed a police report. During the incident, she was able to record photos and videos of him putting his hand on her, which were used as evidence.

Police reportedly told her that if it wasn’t for the purposes of groping her, there would be no reason for the man to place his hand on that spot between their seats.

Her story went viral online, prompting many netizens to praise her for her quick thinking.