A young woman was dragged by her hair and hit repeatedly with a brick by a man because she had dared to complain to police about him trying to damage her car after a parking row last week.

Disturbing visuals of the assault near Chingrighata, off EM Bypass, which took place in broad daylight with at least half a dozen witnesses, emerged on Tuesday. They show the woman being kicked and hit with a brick.

A week has passed since the woman, 23, was assaulted. But her attacker, who people in the neighbourhood identified as a “local Trinamul Congress leader”, is still at large.

The incident was reported in Shantinagar, Chingrighata, on March 18 when the two women were allegedly assaulted by a man named Tinku Mandal and his wife Mita Mandal.

The woman, who lives in a rented apartment in Shantinagar, said she had a tiff with Tinku and one of his associates on the night of March 17.

“I returned home that night in my car and parked it close to a local club. Some men came out and started objecting to the parking. I came upstairs. But a few minutes later, I had a hunch that they might damage my car. We went downstairs to check. To my horror, we found that one of the men who had objected to the parking, was about to smash my car with a brick,” said the woman. She is originally from Howrah’s Andul but stays in Chingrighata to pursue a vocational course to become a make-up artiste.

The woman and her friend, 22, who share the apartment, dialled 100 to alert the police fearing that Tinku would damage the car. The police went to the spot and picked up Tinku and the other man.

The next day, the women were called to the local club over the parking dispute.

“As we went downstairs, we saw Tinku and his wife in front of our building. They did not wait for us to go to the club. They started beating us right away. I was pushed and shoved and when my roommate tried to save me, she was assaulted, too,” said the friend.

Metro contacted local Trinamool councillor Chameli Naskar for her reaction on the alleged assault by a man known for his TMC connections. Naskar said: “Please do not drag my party into this. There are so many clubs. How will we know who is from which party? I will not comment on this. If someone has committed a crime, the law will take its course.”

The footage of the assault shows Mita kicking the woman and Tinku hitting her with a big brick in his hand.

The woman who was hit on her head, back and legs started bleeding from her nose. She had multiple blood clots all over her, the friend said.

“When we lodged a police complaint, very light sections were slapped. Serious sections were added only after we hired a lawyer,” the friend said.

A senior officer from Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate said Mita had been arrested. Sections of attempt to murder, grievous hurt, criminal intimidation and wrongful restraint were slapped.

“A parking issue between the victim and a couple flared up. On the first day, when the victim dialled 100, two men including Tinku were picked up and prosecuted under Section 34 of The Police Act. The victim was reluctant to lodge a formal complaint and the two men were released with a warning,” said the officer.

The police said they received the formal complaint the next day. “The wife was arrested. The husband is missing. We are taking the necessary steps,” he said.