FIR Against Influencer Hitesha Based On Zomato Delivery Boy's Complaint For 'Abuse And Assault'

Six days after a Zomato delivery person was accused of assaulting a Bengaluru woman Hitesha Chandranee, he filed a complaint against the Instagram influencer, alleging abuse and assault over the delay in delivery.

The FIR is based on the complaint filed by the executive named Kamaraj, who has accused the woman Hitesha Chandranee of abusing him and repeatedly hitting him with her sandal. The first FIR was registered on March 10 based on a complaint given by Hitesha. She alleged he had punched her over an argument at her apartment in Bengaluru.

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What had happened?

The alleged incident took place on March 9 at around 4.50 pm when Kamaraj arrived at the customer Hitesha¡¯s residence with the food she had ordered. According to his complaint, Hitesha shouted at him, abused him in Hindi and hit his left hand with a footwear multiple times. A FIR has been registered at Electronic city police station against Hitesha under sections 341, 355, 504, 506 of the IPC.

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 also been booked under IPC sections 504 (intentional insult) and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt).

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What is Hitesha's version?

The incident had gone viral after Hitesha had made an Instagram video alleging being punched by Kamaraj. ¡°I ordered food from Zomato as I was working since morning. I ordered food around 3:30 pm, which was supposed to get delivered by 4:30 pm, and I did not get the order on time, so I was constantly following up with the Zomato customer care that either give me free delivery for the same or just cancel the order¡­¡± Hitesha said in the clip.

¡°And then the Zomato delivery guy came here. He was so rude¡­ I didn¡¯t open the full door, I spoke to him from a gap in the door and told him am talking to the customer care¡­ I told him I don¡¯t want the order since it was very late. But he refused to take the order and started screaming, ¡®bloody I am your slave or what¡¯¡­ It felt so threatening, I got scared and I tried to push the door. But he was so huge, he pushed back the door, snatched the order back from me and punched me. Then he ran away¡­¡± she added in another video on Instagram.

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What is Kamaraj's version?

Kamaraj had refuted all claims made by the woman that he barged in her home and punched her on her face. ¡°For my safety, when she was hitting me, I tried to use my hand to shield her blows. At this point, when she was trying to push my hand away, she accidentally hit herself with her finger ring on the nose, which led to the bleeding. Anybody who sees her face, will understand that this wouldn¡¯t be created by a punch. And I don¡¯t wear any rings,¡± he told The News Minute.

Karnataka: FIR filed against Hitesha Chandrani, who had accused Zomato delivery boy Kamaraj of attacking her, at Bengaluru's Electronic City Police Station under Section 355 (assault), 504 (insult) & 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC; FIR registered on Kamaraj's complaint

¡ª ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2021

What has Zomato said?

However, soon after, Kamaraj countered her claims. The company¡¯s founder Deepinder Goyal also released an official statement on the matter. ¡°Kamaraj has made 5,000 deliveries for us so far, and has a 4.75/5 star rating on our platform (which is one of the highest) and has been working with us for 26 months now (these are facts, not opinions or inferences),¡± the statement read.

I want to chime in about the incident that happened in Bengaluru a few days ago. @zomato pic.twitter.com/8mM9prpMsx

¡ª Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 12, 2021

¡°We are in constant touch with Hitesha covering her medical expenses and helping her with the proceedings. We are also in touch with Kamaraj, extending all possible support to make sure both sides of the story come to light and that due process is followed in the spirit of fairness,¡± it added.