A woman was molested and her husband was beaten up at a posh eatery in Kolkata on the night of Sunday, April 2, bringing back memories of the 2012 Park Street gang rape case. A complaint has been lodged with the Shakespeare Sarani police station, and the police are probing the matter.
The complainant told the police that she and her husband had gone to the M Bar Kitchen, which is also on Park Street, on a friend's invitation when they were attacked by three men who were in an inebriated condition. The men apparently said the couple had infringed the "private space" they had reserved at the restaurant.
"They hit me on the chest and pushed me to the ground. Some of them even touched me inappropriately," the 30-year-old woman has been quoted by local reports as saying.
Her husband tried to shield her from the attack, and was reportedly beaten up by the three drunk men. She said: "They pulled my husband by the hair and tried to choke him. His specs were dropped in the impact."
The eatery-runners then managed to help the victims. The woman said that the club authorities and the security guard formed a human chain around them. The eatery subsequently said in a statement that it strongly condemns the incident.
It said: "Currently, we are actively involved with the concerned authorities in order to throw light on the exact flow of events of the night and to get justice for all those involved and the matter is sub-judice. We hope that justice is meted out at the earliest."
Old horrors
The incident brought back memories of the 2012 Park Street gang rape case, where five people forced themselves on a mother of two after giving her a lift in their car. She revealed her identity as Suzette Jordan in 2013 and became an activist, with her culprits later being sentenced to prison.
