Club assault: Gurugram court rejects bail plea of manager, bouncers

GURUGRAM: The club manager and bouncers accused of molesting a woman and assaulting her male friend in Udyog Vihar in August have been denied bail by a city court.
Terming the incident a serious issue, the court rejected the bail applications of the six accused, who have been in jail since August 10. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media, in which bouncers were seen assaulting the complainant.
On August 8, Mayank, a resident of Sector 28 who works with an IT company, went to the club in Udyog Vihar with some friends around 2am. While entering the club, one security bouncer allegedly touched one of the women in his group inappropriately and pinched her. The woman confronted the bouncer, following which the rest of the group intervened. Other bouncers came to their colleague's defence and called Lokesh and Santosh, the club managers. The managers allegedly told the bouncers to beat the guests so that they would leave the place.
Mayank and his friends were allegedly pushed to the ground and kicked by the bouncers in the middle of the road. They suffered multiple injuries. A video of the incident was circulated widely on social media.
An FIR was registered at Udyog Vihar under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354A (criminal force with an intention to outrage the modesty of a woman), 379A (theft) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Lokesh and six bouncers - Sonu, Mandeep, Sumit, Nitin, Ram Singh and Rakesh - were arrested on August 10.
Puneet Sharma, the counsel for accused, said Mayank and his friends wanted complimentary entry to the club and when the manager refused, they misbehaved and manhandled him. "The complainant and his friends were drunk and a crafted complaint was filed the next day of the alleged incident," Sharma said. Sharma requested for bail on the grounds that accused have been jailed since August 10. "Keeping them behind bars isn't going to serve any fruitful purpose," he argued.
Meanwhile, Ramnivas Yadav, public prosecutor, assisted by Vishal Sangwan, counsel for complainant, argued that one of the bouncers inappropriately touched a friend of complainant and pinched her. "At the instance of the manager of the club, all the bouncers severely thrashed the complainant and his friends," he added.
Additional sessions judge Ved Prakash Sirohi said, "It is a serious matter as the bouncer tried to outrage the modesty of a woman. When she objected, the bouncers of the club at the instance of the manager gave a beating to the complainant and his friends. I find no grounds to grant bail to the petitioners."