'I'm Poor, Can't Fight the Rich': Bhopal Vendor After Woman Hurls Fruits on Road

The woman is seen throwing the vendor's fruits on the ground even as the seller pleads before her to stop.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal has taken the internet by storm. In the viral video, an angry woman can be seen throwing papayas on the road from a fruit seller's cart, even as the fruit seller pleads before her to stop.

The incident, reported from Bhopal's Ayodhya Nagar, is five days old, but the video has gone viral on social media.

Following the incident, the police were called in and the woman's husband paid nearly Rs 2,000 for the damage caused to the vendor.

Meanwhile, Ashraf Khan, the fruit seller whose fruits were hurled on the road, told The Quint:

"I have incurred the loss of nearly Rs 5,000-6,000 and they have given me Rs 2,000. That's okay. I pooled another 1,000 from the savings and gave it to my wholesaler. The rest I will pay in instalments. We agreed to the compromise because we know we are poor people and can't fight the rich."

The Incident

The incident occurred after the woman had taken her car out of the parking lot and parked it on the road. Ashraf Khan's cart of fruit passed by, gently touching the woman's car.

The woman lost her cool when she saw the scratch on her vehicle.

She first shouted at the seller and then began throwing papayas from the cart of the seller.

Another vendor, a relative of Khan, told the press that they pleaded with the woman and told her the he will pay her for any damage to her car from the cart, but she did not stop.

The woman in the video has been reportedly identified as Chitralekha Tripathi, a professor at a private university.

Avinash Lavania, Bhopal’s collector, took note of the viral video.

“The officials are directed to identify the woman and fruit vendor so that appropriate action can be ensured,” Lavania tweeted.

In the video, some passers-by can be seen asking the woman why she is not wearing a mask, to which she argues that she had just come down from her building. She also shows the scratch on her car, insisting that it was the fruit vendor's fault.

The passers-by also said that the woman had behaved in a similar manner in the past as well. They urged the vendor to file a complaint against her.

The vendor then dialled 100 and informed the police about the incident. His relative went to the police station to file a complaint where the police had summoned the woman's husband. Her husband paid nearly Rs 2,000 for the damage caused to the vendor.

"Just because I am poor, it doesn't mean anyone can harass me," Khan's relative said.

Meanwhile, Khan told The Quint:

"Money and losses of fruits is a separate issue, but madam (the one who threw all the papayas and overturned the cart) didn't even for once apologised. Had she even once said that son, brother, whatever, I am sorry, I would have got closure."

(In a previous version of the story, Ashraf Khan's relative had incorrectly been identified as the vendor seen in the video. The error has since been corrected, and is regretted.)