Almost a week after a Bengaluru-based woman make-up artist accused a Zomato delivery executive of assault, a second FIR has been filed by the Electronic City police in Bengaluru.
The FIR is based on the complaint filed by the delivery executive named Kamaraj, who has in turn accused the woman Hitesha Chandranee of abusing him and repeatedly hitting him with her sandal.
The first FIR was registered on 10 March based on a complaint given by Hitesha.
In the second FIR, the police has booked Hitesha under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 341(wrongful restraint), 355(Assault or criminal force), 504 (intentional insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
In his complaint letter to the police, Kamaraj has alleged that on 9 March, at around 4:50 pm, Histesha, angered by her food order being delayed, got into a fight and abused him. He also states that she stopped him from leaving her house and then hit his left hand repeatedly with her sandals.
Meanwhile, the complaint copy of Hitesha mentions that when she told Kamaraj that due to the food being delivered 59 minutes late, she will not pay the bill. She alleges that in response, he abused her and punched her nose with his fist. Kamaraj has been booked under IPC sections 504 (intentional insult) and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt).
Pending investigation, Kamaraj was suspended from Zomato. In a statement, Zomato said:
"We spoke to Hitesha as soon we got (news of) the escalation, met her and offered our complete support. We're in constant touch with her. As per our protocol, we've suspended the delivery partner from our platform pending investigation. Our team has been with him throughout and we'll ensure due process is followed”.
On 10 March, Hitesha Chandranee, who is a resident of Electronic City, made an Instagram video accusing Kamaraj of assaulting her, which caused an injury on the nose. Hitesha’s video went viral prompting the food delivery app to initiate an action.
Following the case, Kamaraj in an exclusive interview with TNM, first gave his version of the events in which he alleged that Hitesha misbehaved with him when he went to deliver food at her residence. According to Kamaraj, Hitesha refused to pay money for the food claiming that the delivery was late.
He alleged that Hitesha called him a “slave” and other expletives in Hindi for being late. She also allegedly flung slippers at him. Allegedly when she was hitting, she hurt herself, for which she blamed Kamaraj.
Following the interview, Kamaraj received wide support from netizens, who sought for a thorough inquiry and action against Hitesha if she had made a false complaint.
(This piece was originally published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission. Read the original story here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)