Dr. Sudipta Mohanty (inset) pictured in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center photo, (R) a Hawaiian Airlines Jet (Larry MacDougal via AP)
A doctor in Boston, Massachusetts, faces federal charges for allegedly masturbating on a flight and ejaculating in front of a 14-year-old girl who was traveling with her grandparents.
According the Department of Justice, 33-year-old Dr. Sudipta Mohanty, an internal medicine and primary care physician, during a flight on Hawaiian Airlines Flight 90 from from Honolulu to Boston on May 27, 2022, “masturbated and exposed his penis within view of the 14-year-old female passenger,” identified only as Hawaii resident Minor A.
The doctor, who faces a charge for lewd, indecent and obscene acts while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the U.S., was traveling with a female “companion” identified as RS, charging documents say. The woman was sleeping on the doctor’s shoulder when the crime occurred, the feds say.
“The Companion was sleeping on MOHANTY’s shoulder. MOHANTY had covered himself with a blanket up to his neck. Minor A noticed that MOHANTY’s leg was bouncing up and down,” the criminal complaint said. “Minor A was not really sure why that was but did not think anything of it. Minor A then got up and went to the restroom. When Minor A returned to her seat, MOHANTY then got up and went to the restroom. He returned to his seat soon thereafter.”
Mere minutes later, the defendant allegedly began masturbating again.
“A few minutes later it started again. At that point Minor A observed that the blanket that had been covering MOHANTY was now off him and on the floor. Minor A could see that MOHANTY was masturbating. MOHANTY’s pants were unzipped and Minor A could see his ‘genitals,”” the complaint said. “He was ‘using his hand to go up and down.’ The man then ejaculated. Minor A saw ‘white stuff’ that went on him. The man then zipped his pants back up, got up and went to the restroom.”
The victim’s grandparents were sleeping at the time, so the victim sat with a woman on the flight and tried not to “freak” anyone else out, the documents said. She later told her grandmother and mother that the defendant did something “inappropriate” on the flight. After the mother contacted Hawaiian Airlines, the airline called the FBI. An investigation followed.
When Mohanty was visited at his home by the FBI on May 6, 2023, he let them and answered questions, the feds said. When they informed him of the allegation, he “appeared visibly nervous in that his hands and voice trembled,” the complaint said. He suggested that he had only kissed RS — his traveling companion — on the cheek.
“MOHANTY was advised that what had been described by the complainant could not be confused with a kiss on the cheek,” the complaint said. “MOHANTY then said, ‘Well then I would have to say that my response would be to deny that.’”
When asked point-blank whether he masturbated in a front of a 14-year-old girl, the accused said “I have no recollection of that,” the feds said.
The government said that Mohanty works at a hospital in Boston. That hospital is Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed to Law&Crime that Mohanty is on leave.
“This individual is on leave and not currently practicing at BIDMC,” the spokesperson said. “We are unable to comment further on personnel matters.”
Mohanty was represented by a public defender when he appeared in federal court Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley, court records show. He was released with conditions.
“Everyone, especially children, has the absolute right to not be exposed to lewd conduct when they are traveling,” acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. “If you engage in the type of illicit behavior alleged here, you will be caught and held accountable wherever it happens.”
Read the criminal complaint here.
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Dr. Sudipta Mohanty masturbated in front of girl: Feds