Woman Accuses Aerocity's JW Marriott Of Holding Her Hostage Over Bill; Hotel Denies Allegations

A 55-year-old woman, who works as a legal advisor for a women business organisation, has accused the staff of JW Marriott Hotel in Aerocity of holding her hostage for hours and harassing her when she complained of poor services and sought time to settle the hotel bill.

She also accused one of the hotel's chefs of touching her inappropriately. Based on her complaint, an FIR was registered at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport Police Station.

The woman, in her complaint, alleged that male employees constantly followed her in the hotel and that they also stood outside the washroom when she was inside it. "Even when I went to the lavatory, they kept waiting outside," she wrote in her complaint.

JW Marriott

Hotel denies allegations

However, the hotel has denied all allegations as baseless. "The JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity strongly refutes the allegations made against the hotel in the concerned matter and are cooperating with the relevant authorities in their investigation," a spokesperson from JW Marriott told PTI.

The spokesperson further said, "We operate with the highest levels of integrity, ethics and values that extend to all our partners, associates and guests. Given the matter is currently being handled by the police, we are unable to provide any further information." The woman, who doesn't want to be named, said in her complaint to police that the hotel staff verbally berated her and held her captive under the watch of two male employees, who constantly followed her in the hotel.

JW Marriott

What was the dispute?

According to the FIR, written in Hindi, the dispute arose over payment of a bill for an event held on December 26, 2022, for which the organisation had booked 94 rooms and halls in the hotel.

The firm paid Rs 55 lakh in advance for holding the event, which was attended by people from different parts of the country and abroad.

The organisers complained of poor service and food quality when the event concluded on December 31, 2022. However, the firm made another payment of Rs 25 lakh on December 31 and told the hotel it would pay the remaining sum on January 1, 2023, after checking all the bills and adjusting the advance amount.

The complainant alleged in the FIR that there were some discrepancies in the room tariff, and her organisation had sought time to check bills thoroughly as it had already paid 80 per cent of the bill.

"We had 30 rooms booked till January 1, and we requested them to allow us to make the remaining payment by January 1, but they held me and some other organisers hostage and didn't allow us to leave the hotel," she said in the FIR.

rooms

She was let go after she dialled 1091

She said it was only after she dialled 1091, a helpline number of Delhi Police for women in distress, that a Sub Inspector was dispatched to the hotel and the hotel staff let go of her.

"It was only at 12.10am that I was allowed to leave for home. The hotel staff detained me illegally for several hours and harassed me the whole time," she said.

The woman told PTI that the police did not file an FIR until April 11, even though the incident occurred in December last year. However, according to the IGI police, they needed her to clarify some of the points in her initial complaint, but she was too busy to come to the station, and when she did visit it on April 11, they filed an FIR.

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