Woman ‘hurls abuses, assaults’ guard at Noida society, arrested

The woman, Bhaavya Roy, is a lawyer working with a prominent law firm in the capital. In a purported video clip, which went viral on social media, she can allegedly be seen shouting at a guard near the society’s gates on Saturday, using abusive language and pushing him.

After the incident, the security guard, Anoop Kumar, filed a complaint at Sector 126 police station. Noida Police said in a statement: “A video went viral on social media in which a woman is seen behaving indecently with a security guard at Jaypee Greens Wishtown society which falls under Sector 126 police station. Noida Police has taken cognizance of the video and sector 126 police has registered a case against the woman (Bhaavya Roy) under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 323 (causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505 (2) (statements encouraging enmity, animosity, or ill-will between classes) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The woman has been taken into police custody and further investigation is underway.”

Police said Roy has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Screen grab of visuals of the incident

In his complaint, Kumar said the incident took place around 5.45 pm. The complainant stated that he was on duty when Roy arrived in her car. He alleged that she started abusing him as he got up to open the gate. “She assaulted me in front of everyone, humiliated me and threatened to kill me,” the guard alleged in the complaint. “I and my fellow guards tried to stop her plenty of times, but she did not listen and went on insulting me and even used an insult and slur for a specific community,” he further alleged, as per the complaint.

Roy came in her own car to the police station. Visuals from her building show her driving the car and police constables sitting inside. “We had asked her to come in for questioning. She came in her car. Police accompanied her…” said a senior police officer.

According to the Residents Welfare Association, Roy has been living in the building since May. Anshu Gupta, RWA treasurer, said, “We don’t know much about the woman since she has been living here for three months…. she is a tenant. As per our knowledge, there is an exit gate towards the Pavilion Court where all guards note down the registration numbers of cars. At the time of the incident, the guards were noting down a car’s number while the woman was also trying to exit. There was a delay of a few seconds… the woman started honking and later hurled abuses… The guard was crying when we saw him today. He is in a state of shock and spent half of the day giving statements to police.”

At the society on Sunday, guards remained tight-lipped about the incident but said it took place near the exit gate of Pavillion 15. “We were told the woman was trying to exit the premises and there was a delay in opening the gate..,” a guard from a nearby block claimed.

Another guard in the society said they are at the receiving end from all sides: “Guests often shout at us if we stop them at the gate… If we don’t note down the numbers, then the supervisor shouts at us… We cannot afford any mistakes. The supervisor constantly keeps an eye on us and people in the society badmouth us for even small mistakes.” “Most guards here are paid Rs 14,000 and get no holidays…,” he added.

A resident, Pooja Malhotra, said she saw the video online: “Though quarrels between guards and residents are common, I have not seen something like this before.”