Goregaon theatre assault: Police take 5 days to initiate inquiry

Five days after an elderly man was assaulted for allegedly disrespecting national anthem while watching Dangal at a suburban theatre on Wednesday evening, the Goregaon police have initiate an inquiry in the matter.

Five days after an elderly man was assaulted for allegedly disrespecting national anthem while watching Dangal at a suburban theatre on Wednesday evening, the Goregaon police have initiate an inquiry in the matter.

It was one of the audience members who informed the police about the ruckus the police, following which a team of Goregaon police rushed to the spot and took the accused in custody. (File photo for representation)

The alleged incident took place at a movie theatre in Goregaon where Amalraj Peter Dasan, 59, was watching the movie with his wife. In his complaint, Dasan alleged that a fellow moviegoer started abusing the couple during a scene where national anthem was being played in the background. Dasan claimed the accused, later identified as Shirish Madhukar, was drunk and punched him in the face after alleging him of disrespecting the national anthem.

In his statement, Dasan mentioned that he was one of the few who stood for the national anthem when it was played before the screening of the movie. “There were not many people when the movie started. We stood up for the anthem in the beginning and then continued watching the movie until the man started abusing us, and then punched me,” Dasan said in his statement.

It was one of the audience members who informed the police about the ruckus the police, following which a team of Goregaon police rushed to the spot and took the accused in custody. Madhukar was detained at the police station for a few hours, after which a first information report (FIR) was registered against him under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal code – both of which are non-cognisable offences.

“We received the complaint about the assault and have recorded statements. A non-cognisable complaint has been registered. Both the complainant and the accused are residents of Goregaon,” said Bhaskar Jadhav, senior inspector from Goregaon police station.