New Delhi: A woman from Darjeeling alleged she was refused entry into a Delhi club Saturday night owing to her “different” look.
Bidhya, who was with a six
other women, claimed she was singled out while her group was allowed to
go inside. She later left in protest.
The incident first came to light through a Facebook post put up by Megha Chawla hours after the incident occurred.
The woman narrated how after a wait of about 45 minutes, her group
was finally allowed inside the Privee pub at Shangri-La Hotel located in
Janpath. Management at the door, however, allowed only six of them to
enter.
Speaking to ThePrint, Bidhya (who goes by her first name) said she was at first clueless on why she wasn’t allowed.
“We had reached Privee around 12.15 am on Sunday to celebrate one of
our colleagues’ birthday. Some people at the pub’s front desk said only
six of us could go in. They let my friends inside and said I will be
allowed to enter soon. But then I just kept waiting outside for a long
while. I felt embarrassed and decided to go back home. I was almost
reduced to tears,” she said.
A native of Darjeeling, she has been living in Delhi for nearly 16 years and works at an educational consultancy.
The club’s manager Rajeev Ranjan said the group had a reservation for
only six people, but the women said they had pre-booked a table for
seven and even carried a reference number of their booking.
‘From the Northeast’
One of the other women present that night said Ranjan and Privee’s PR
person had told them Bidhya was stopped because “she is from the
Northeast”.
“When they had initially said that only six people will be allowed
inside, I volunteered to wait outside till they made arrangements for
the seventh person. But I got a rude shock when they insisted I go in
and Bidhya stay outside. Unable to understand what was happening, two of
my friends then went inside and spoke with the manager and the pub’s PR
person who pointed out that our friend cannot enter because she looked
different,” the woman said.
Bhavya Goel, also among the party, said the women had asked if the
club was restricting Bidhya’s entry due to a dress code or some other
etiquette issue.
“We asked them if there was a dress code or age barrier because of
which our friend wasn’t allowed in. We all carried our identity cards
and could afford the place. But they refused to answer. All they said
was that our friend would not be allowed to go in and it was up to their
discretion.”
However, Ranjan told ThePrint, “No such incident took place. The
names of six girls were listed, so we couldn’t allow the seventh person
in. We are a reputed facility and respect women.”
But Bidhya said Monday
evening the Privee management apologised to her and said it would take
action against those responsible for refusing to let her enter the
premises.
https://theprint.in
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