Watching a procession for Kali Puja immersion pass by the street turned into a harrowing, night-long ordeal for a Kolkata family on Saturday, the incident coming to light on Friday against the backdrop of multiple such acts of hooliganism being reported across the city.
The couple had objected to a stray firecracker that burst close to the spot where they were standing with their 14-year old son in India’s safest city according to National Crime Record Bureau statistics.
The couple was allegedly assaulted on the road. Apparently unsatisfied with the “punishment”, the goons chased the couple from the street to their flat in Garia’s Lakshminarayan colony.
Around 11.30pm on Thursday, a Kali Puja immersion process was passing through the colony. Along with other residents in the area, the couple and their son also stood watching men and women dancing on the streets accompanying the carriage with live music.
Firecrackers, the indiscriminate bursting of which have led to several cases of assaults across the city, were being hurled. One such “chocolate bomb” landed close to where the family stood.
The scared woman raised her voice in the din, protesting against the casual manner in which the young men were hurling these on the narrow streets.
“Most of the men were drunk,” her husband told ABP Ananda on Friday morning. “They ran towards us and within seconds we were surrounded.”
Seeing the allegedly inebriated men, neighbours of the couple moved away. A push and the couple fell on the ground. Kicks and blows rained; none of the onlookers bothered to intervene.
The woman has alleged that one of the attackers tried to choke her after she fell on the ground.
After some minutes of blows and kicks, the couple managed to escape and went inside their flat on the third floor. The goons would not let them go.
They barged into the room and dragged the woman out onto the landing, where she was allegedly molested.
From the street below bricks and bombs were hurled aimed at the third-floor flat.
“We tried to call the Netaji Nagar police station. There was no response. Finally we dialled 100,” said one of the victims.
They went to the Bagha Jatin state general hospital, where some of the men followed them. They stood blocking the gate to the emergency while the couple was being treated inside.
A police team arrived and took them to the MR Bangur Hospital where they were finally treated.
A complaint has been lodged though no arrests have been made yet.
On Monday, the night of Kali Puja and Diwali, a 55-year old woman was allegedly beaten in Elgin Road, part of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Bhowanipore constituency, for protesting against loud crackers.
On Wednesday night, another couple was allegedly heckled and their son assaulted when the protested against loud music being played at an immersion procession near the Parnasree Central Government Quarters on Lake Road.
