3 Bengaluru hotel staff held for thrashing Manipuri co-worker

A northeast man working as a housekeeping staff in the popular Empire Restaurant in the Jayanagar area of Bengaluru was allegedly beaten up by his co-workers.

Read: Manipuri Student Found Dead in Delhi; Another Attacked in Bengaluru

Three were arrested on Tuesday after the victim, who hails from Manipur, filed a police complaint. The Manipuri guy, who has been identified as S Paukhanmung, has suffered several injuries, including a fracture. He is currently under treatment at a private hospital.

The police have meanwhile ruled out the angle of racism.

Interestingly, the three accused— Lokanath, operational manager; Sameer, batch manager and Inam, a waiter— has also filed a complaint against the victim and said Paukhanmung has also assaulted them.

"On Sunday night, Paukhanmung was found smoking a cigarette in the staff room and other employees objected to this. This led to heated arguments and both sides clashed," SD Sharanappa, deputy commissioner of police (south) told Times of India.

The accused and the victim confronted for the second time on Monday.

"The complainant is believed to have broached the issue again with his colleagues around 9 pm on Monday under the influence of alcohol. The complainant said he was thrashed and beaten by the accused with sticks. We have taken up a case and arrested the accused persons," Sharanappa added.

However, the victim, in his complaint, said he was smoking on the restaurant's terrace on August 27 night, following which Loknath charged him Rs 100 fine. When Paukhanmung refused to pay up, they got into a heated argument which turned violent.

As the victim was unable to work, he returned to his room.

But, the harassment did not end there. On Monday evening, when the victim went to the restaurant for dinner, he was once again beaten up by his seniors. The seniors even threatened other Manipuri staff to not report the incident.

However, the Manipuri Association got a wind of the incident through WhatsApp and informed the police. They also went to the restaurant to help the victim.

The police have registered a case under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) against the accused.

As per Loknath's complaint, the police have registered a case of assault against Paukhanmung under Section 324 of IPC.

Earlier, on March 6, a student from Arunachal Pradesh was beaten up by his house owner and was forced to lick his shoes for allegedly using excessive water.