According to a lawsuit filed on December 29, a woman aboard the Margaritaville at Sea cruise ship is suing Classica Cruise Operator, which operates the cruise ship, after one of their bartenders reportedly raped and pregnant her.
In May 2023, the woman from West Virginia was on a journey with “her cabinmate, ‘H.B.,'” The cruise had departed from the Port of Palm Beach in Florida, bound for the Bahamas.
According to the lawsuit, on May 5, the couple purchased wine at an onboard bar and charged it to their stateroom number. This also meant that the bartenders had access to both their room number and key.
Later that night, when the two were sleeping in the room, the bartender, Hoobesh Kumar Dookhy, 24, entered their room and assaulted the woman, according to the lawsuit.
An affidavit filed by an FBI agent in May, according to NBC station WPTV, alleges that Dookhy did not return the woman’s key after she used it to pay for the drinks. Dookhy was sexually assaulting the woman and touching her face when she awoke.
According to the affidavit, she tried to convince Dookhy to leave, but he moved over to “H.B.’s” bed and inappropriately touched her. He supposedly fled but later returned to perpetrate more crimes.
The lawsuit mentioned that the woman became pregnant and “was forced to terminate the pregnancy, from which she then suffered serious complications.”
As per the lawsuit, the act caused the victim physical, emotional, and psychological distress. She has also received physical and mental health therapy, as well as counseling.
The woman is suing for $75,000 in monetary damages.
According to court documents, Dookhy pled guilty to abusive sexual contact against H.B. in October and faces up to two years in jail followed by a year of supervised release. His sentencing is scheduled for January 30, and he might face a $250,000 fine.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons states that Dookhy was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center in Miami but was released on January 9.