PANAJI
Even before the fatal fire at its Arpora establishment, the Romeo Lane nightclub chain was already facing criticism as women tourists at its Vagator outlet had complained of assault last month.
Now, one of those tourists has stepped forward, alleging that she and her relatives were beaten by the manager and bouncers during their visit and that the names of the club’s owners, initially included in her police complaint, were later removed from the FIR by Anjuna Police.
Vaibhavi, who spoke to a national media, said she had visited the Romeo Lane beach shack in November and found the space “very cramped,” with a single entrance and exit at an elevated level that made entry and exit difficult. She said the dispute began around 3 am when a heavy chair obstructed their way as they tried to leave.
“My cousin shifted it aside with his foot… The manager came to us and said, ‘You are damaging the furniture; we should have thrown you out earlier. You don’t have the status to be here,” she recounted. According to her, the manager then grabbed her cousin’s collar and continued speaking “rudely.” When the family of 13 members from Varanasi attempted to apologise and walk out, she said he called in the security staff and bouncers.
“They started chasing us and raised their hands at us. They hit my sister on the chest and pushed her so badly that she fell down the stairs. They put up a barricade at the gate so we couldn’t leave… When my brother removed it, a bouncer ran towards him with a rod and started hitting him badly. When I pushed the bouncer to stop him, he hit me too.”
She alleged the staff used “such bad language that I had never heard before.” She said, they were badly hurt and approached the police the next morning.
“I informed the police, and they told us to come to the Anjuna Police Station the next day… Somehow, an FIR was filed after a lot of effort,” she said.
Vaibhavi said she had named the chain’s owners in her complaint, but the police later removed their names on the grounds that they were not physically present during the incident. “If you don’t take women’s safety and tourist safety seriously, such incidents will keep happening in Goa,” she said.
After her account went viral on social media, an FIR was registered against manager Ajay Kavtikar, Junaid Ali, and members of the security staff — all of whom denied the allegations, claiming the tourists had created a nuisance.
The present fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora, killing 25 persons, has led to stringent action against the partners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, and Ajay Gupta among others for culpable homicide.
The Luthra brothers who escaped to Thailand soon after the blaze were detained by Thai authorities on Thursday and are likely to be deported to India on Monday or Tuesday.
