An Australian woman who had accused a Malaysia Airlines cabin crew member of sexually abusing her is set to go public to tell her side of the story, of how she was assaulted during a flight to Paris earlier this month.
News.com.au reported that the 26-year-old woman, known only as Laura, will also show footage of the assault which she had taken using her phone, on Seven's Sunday Night show.
Laura said that she was sexually assaulted by the chief steward on board flight MH20 on August 4.
“I couldn’t stop it. I just froze. I was just scared,” she was seen telling Seven reporter Ross Coulthart in the promo video.
The report said Coulthard had asked the victim why she had not called for help.
"I keep saying, ‘why didn’t I scream, why didn’t I shout, why didn’t I stop it?'
“I am a strong person because I can, I can do that, I know I can, but when I was in the moment I couldn’t. I felt so scared, so petrified."
Laura, it was reported, had begun recording mid-flight after the assault had taken place.
A woman's voice could be heard crying to a man sitting across the aisle.
She was heard saying: “You did, you did, you did, don’t lie. It’s what you did.
“I’m so scared. I just want to get off this plane... I don’t want to see you. Go away. You give me the creeps, you dirty old man."
Laura made a report with the authorities upon reaching Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport and the steward was detained two days later to assist in the investigations.
Laura said she was speaking out for the first time as she felt let down by the actions of the airline.
The ailing airline, which has been struggling in the wake of two air tragedies this year which has claimed the lives of 537 people, had previously confirmed the incident.
It also assured that it would cooperate with French authorities in the probe.
“Malaysia Airlines expects and accepts nothing short of the highest standards of conduct from its crew and takes any such allegations very seriously,” the national carrier said. – August 22, 2014.