Out on shopping, woman and her friend assaulted, harassed by parking staff in Noida Sector 18; two arrested
Noida: A Delhi-based fashion designer has alleged that she and her male friend were assaulted and harassed by staff of the multi-level parking in Sector 18 on Sunday afternoon. The Noida police have arrested two suspects in the case.
According to the woman, she was shopping at a jewellery shop in the market with her friend. “When we came out, we realised that the car we had parked nearby had been towed. So we went to basement of the parking lot to retrieve it. We paid the fine, and when we collected the car, I saw that there was a dent on it which wasn’t there earlier,” said the woman.
She alleged that when she confronted one of the attendants at the parking, he started shouting at her.
“ A couple of his friends also came there and they all started abusing me and making obscene comments. My friend then got out of the car and asked me to get back in while he handled them. However, the attendant’s some more friends came there and they all started hitting my friend,” said the woman.
She said in her complaint that two women also came there and they started breaking through her car windows after which they dragged her out and harassed her, slapping her multiple times.
“One of the men brought an iron rod and damaged my car’s bonnet. They started filming us all the while making obscene comments and even threatened our lives. Our clothes were torn and while they were focused on me, my friend ran out and called the police helpline. Meanwhile, one of the suspects took the jewellery and Rs 17,500 cash I had in my car. By then there were at least 12-15 people there. However, by the time police reached there, most of the suspects had fled the spot,” the woman said.
The woman later filed a complaint with Sector 20 police station, following which a case was registered against the unidentified suspects under IPC sections of harassment, assault, theft and intimidation.
According to the police, the victim has also provided the description of at least five of the suspects, including the two women.
The police on Sunday evening arrested two of the suspects, who were identified as Shivam Sharma and Shivam Bajpayee. They were sent to jail on Monday.
“We are on the lookout for the rest of the suspects. They are members of the staff at the parking, and we have details about a few of them. The CCTV cameras in the area are dysfunctional, but we are gathering more evidence,” said Rakesh Kumar Singh, station house officer, Sector 20 police station.
Singh said that both the victims have sustained injuries while the woman’s Baleno car was heavily damaged.