UP tourist family assaulted at Vagator club; FIR against staffers & bouncers

Panaji: A 13-member family from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, who came to Goa as tourists, were left traumatised after bouncers and staff of a top nightclub at Vagator allegedly assaulted them and outraged the modesty of a woman on Saturday night.

Goa police have registered the first information report (FIR) against the staff and bouncers of Romeo Lane Restaurant, Vagator, in connection with the case.

Some members of the family sustained minor injuries during the scuffle with the club staff. SP (North Goa) Rahul Gupta said that one of the security staff pushed a female member of the family, thereby outraging her modesty.
A 24-year-old Varanasi resident tourist alleged in her complaint to the local police that she and her family were assaulted by staff at Romeo Lane Restaurant, following a misunderstanding over a leftover drink.

In her complaint, she said they had come to Goa for a holiday and went to the restaurant for dinner. “On entering the restaurant, we sat at one table, and the other table was adjoining, which had leftover food and drinks, and the guest of that table had already left. One of our family members arrived late, and he thought that both tables were ours and the food and the drinks kept were ours. Due to confusion, he picked the leftover drink and tried to take a sip,” reads her complaint.
She said that the restaurant manager shouted at them and threatened to throw them out, despite their apologies and offer to pay for the drink.

The UP resident said that after settling their bill, a minor incident occurred where a family member accidentally nudged a chair, prompting the manager, who appeared intoxicated, to use offensive language. The family assured the manager they would cover any damages, although there were none.
“We apologised to him as we wanted to leave the restaurant. However, the manager and the waiter started assaulting one of the family members, and thereafter, many bouncers of the said restaurant came, and they also started assaulting him with fist blows and slaps,” she said in her complaint.

The 24-year-old said that as they were trying to exit the restaurant, one of the bouncers assaulted her brother with an iron pole on his chest and back and broke his glasses. “I tried to help him, but the bouncer tried to pull my T-shirt and slapped me on my face. They also abused me in filthy language,” she said.

An FIR has been registered against Ajay Kavtikar, manager of Romeo Lane Restaurant, Junaid Ali, and bouncers in connection with assault and outrage of modesty,” Gupta said.