Days after 25 people died in a fire at Goa’s Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, a woman who visited the club last month levelled serious allegations against the manager, including physical assault.
She also said that the security personnel and bouncers at the club hit her sister and attacked her brother with a rod.
Notably, the owners of the club, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, boarded a New Delhi-Phuket IndiGo flight barely hours after the fire. They have now been detained in Thailand and are expected to be deported soon.
Big allegations against Goa nightclub manager, bouncers
Vaibhavi said she went to the beach shack Romeo Lane in Goa’s Vagator in November, adding that the club’s manager and security staff physically assaulted her.
Speaking to news agency ANI, the woman said the club felt very cramped. It has just one entrance and one exit, both at a height, which makes it hard to get in and out, she said.
“When we were leaving the club around 3 am, a heavy chair was in our way. 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 said.
{{/usCountry}}“When we were leaving the club around 3 am, a heavy chair was in our way. 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 said.
{{/usCountry}}She added that the manager then grabbed her cousin’s collar and spoke to them rudely. When they tried to apologise and leave, he called all the security personnel and the bouncers.
“They started chasing us and raised their hands at us. Since it was tough to leave that club, they chased us down and hit people in groups. They hit my sister on the chest, pushed her so badly that she fell down the stairs... They put up a barricade at the entry 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… They were using such bad language towards us that I had never heard before,” she said.
She told the news agency that they decided to go to a police station in the morning because they were badly hurt. “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 also said she had named both owners in her complaint; however, the police later removed their names, saying they were not physically present when the incident happened.
“If you don't take women's safety and tourist safety seriously, such incidents will keep happening in Goa,” she said.
Goa nightclub fire
Gaurav (44) and forty-year-old Saurabh Luthra, who left India only hours after the fire, were detained in Thailand, officials said on Thursday. A Delhi court later rejected their transit anticipatory bail requests.
The Goa government has said that the brothers will be brought back as soon as possible so they can face the law.
Five managers and staff members have already been arrested by the police in the matter.