Every Coin Has Two Sides!
In connection to the customer assault incident of Bengaluru that is creating buzz all over the internet in recent days, the Zomato delivery boy identified as Kamraj has been arrested. He has been delisted from the food delivery platform pending an investigation.
On Wednesday, a video of Bengaluru-based content creator and makeup artist, Hitesha Chandranee went viral on the internet in which she can be seen crying with a bleeding nose. She accused a food delivery boy of assaulting her verbally and physically following an altercation for the late food delivery.
The woman filed a complaint against the Zomato delivery boy with the Bengaluru electronic police station. “A delivery man of Zomato has been booked and arrested for allegedly attacking a woman in Bengaluru,” said Bengaluru DCP (South East) Joshi Srinath.
Hitesha Chandranee Accused Zomato Delivery Boy of Assault
Hitesha narrated the incident through an IGTV video shared on Wednesday where she narrated that she placed an order at around 3.30 PM on Tuesday. She didn’t receive the order even after an hour following which she contacted customer support. In between the conversation, the time delivery boy arrived. She asked him to wait while asking the customer support team to either cancel the order or give it free.
She alleged, “He started screaming at me, saying ‘Am I a slave or what? You are asking me to wait here.’ It was really threatening for me. I tried to shut my door but he pushed the door, took my order from the table by entering my home, punched me in my face and ran away. I was given high-power antibiotics and painkillers because of which I am able to talk… My eyes water and my nose bleed as soon as I start talking.”
With the video going viral, Hitesha received support from all the netizens. But as the accused side of the story came out, the whole scenario changed.
Kamraj Side of Story
However, the accused, Kamraj has refuted all the allegations and narrated a different story. He submitted, “After I reached her apartment door, I handed her the food and I was expecting her to pay me (as she had opted for cash on delivery mode of payment). I also apologised since the delivery was delayed due to traffic and bad roads. But she was very rude from the outset. She asked me ‘Why are you late?’ I replied apologetically, as there were road blocks due to ongoing civic works and there were traffic jams as well. But she kept on insisting that the order has to be delivered within 45-50 minutes. I am working on this job for more than two years and this is the first time that I have had to go through this kind of an ordeal.”
He said that she refused to pay for the order. Kamraj also said that he pleaded before the woman to pay the amount but she called him a slave. Zomato support informed the delivery boy that the order has been cancelled. But Hitesha refused to give back the order.
“At this point, when I was walking towards the lift, she started using expletives in Hindi. She suddenly threw slippers at me and started hitting me. For my safety, when she was hitting me, I tried to use my hand to shield her blows. When she was trying to push my hand away, she accidentally hit herself with her finger ring on the nose, which led to the bleeding. Anybody who sees her face, will understand that this wouldn’t be created by a punch. And I don’t wear any rings,” said Kamraj.
He further added, “the Zomato support system person in Delhi also supported me and offered me empathy after I narrated the ordeal that I had to go through. The problem is there is no CCTV footage to prove my innocence.”
Zomato suspended Kamraj and apologized to Hitesha, “We deeply regret this incident and apologise to Hitesha for this traumatic experience. We are in touch with her and are providing our complete support through the necessary medical care and investigation. Meanwhile, we have delisted the delivery partner from our platform.”
Zomato replied to her tweets, “We can assure you this is not the experience our delivery universe stands for. Our local representative shall be in touch with you shortly to help you with the police investigation along with assistance on the medical care required. We can’t emphasise how sorry we are, rest assured we’ll take necessary actions to prevent such incidents from happening in future.”
