Woman alleges Marriott bouncers molested her

On January 25, a night of revelry took an ugly turn for a city-based female professional in her early twenties. She, along with a male friend, had gone to Miami, a tony pub located in JW Marriott on SB Road to unwind and have a good time. However, a scuffle broke out between the couple and the hotel authorities, leading to a police complaint lodged by the woman.

The woman had lodged a case in Chaturshringi police station in this regard. An FIR was filed on February 10.

When the complainant was at the pub on the night of January 25, her health suddenly deteriorated and she felt a shooting pain in her stomach. She excused herself and lay down on a bench outside the pub. Her friend was also with her. That is when the bouncers allegedly approached her and asked her to vacate the spot. As she was struggling to stand up, her friend apparently requested the authorities to let her rest there for a while, to which the bouncers did not agree, states the FIR. As alleged argument broke out, and the pub bouncers resorted to verbal abuse and even pushed her and her friend around, the complaint further states.

Talking to Mirror, the complainant’s friend said, “The incident took place in the wee hours of January 25 night. While we were at Miami, my friend suddenly fell unwell and we stepped out of the pub so that she could get some fresh air. Before we could know it, a bunch of bouncers gathered around us and rudely asked us to clear the area. When we denied, they got physical with us and the male bouncers even dragged and pulled my friend.”

“I rushed to the manager and expressed my displeasure over the behaviour of the hotel staff and demanded the presence of female staff to communicate with my friend. Instead of cooperating with us, he got angry at me and started victim-blaming, saying that since I was there with a woman, I should be able to handle the situation. I was shocked to hear this and told him that it was his responsibility to ensure the safety of his guests, adding that we were leaving immediately. This agitated him further. He and the bouncers then started dragging us. Taking advantage of the chaos, the staff touched my friend inappropriately and tried to take her to an isolated place. Sensing trouble, she started yelling and broke down. When I objected, they thrashed me brutally. I managed to record our ill treatment on my mobile. However, they snatched my phone and continued beating me up,” he added.

“My friend then somehow dialed 100 to alert the cops. Police landed at the spot and we narrated the whole incident. However, the cops seemed to side with the hotel staff and completely ignored our plight. The authorities made them talk to some connections higher up and deleted the videos we had captured. They even tried to silence us by offering ‘compensation’, which we denied. At that point, they tried to intimidate us, threatening us of dire consequences if we lodged a complaint,” he further claimed.

According to the complainant, the hotel staff also intimidated them by threatening to slap false extortion case against them. She further said that the cops refused to file an FIR and took cognizance of the matter only after she approached the police commissioner of the city.

Rakesh Sarde, investigation officer in the case, told Mirror, “A case has been registered under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (causing of hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code against two bouncers of the pub. We are investigating the matter further.”

Source:-Pune Mirror

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