German among three held for harassing woman at posh hotel

NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old married woman, in an FIR, has accused three men, including a German national, of sexually harassing her at a coffee shop of Hotel Hyatt Regency in south Delhi early on Saturday morning, police said.

Police sources said an altercation between two groups was also reported from the premises of the luxury hotel over the same issue. During the clash, a 21-yearold man, who is the son of the managing director of a leading power solutions provider company, was injured. He suffered cut wounds in his head and forehead and received six stitches.

However, when HT contacted the hotel management for a comment, a spokesperson for Hyatt Regency claimed that “they were not aware of any such incident having taken place in their hotel”.

Police said the three men — Sehaj, Armaan and their friend from Germany, Paul — were arrested following the complaint by the victim. They were booked under Section 354A 1 (sexual harassment), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of IPC. The accused were, however, later released on bail, said a police officer.

A senior police officer said the woman, a resident of Vasant Vihar, had come to the hotel for dinner with her husband and brother-in-law.

“They had had their dinner at The China Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant at Hyatt Regency, and later went to the café. At the coffee shop, a group of men allegedly began staring at the woman. She felt uncomfortable and objected to their indecent behaviour,” said the senior officer.

When the woman’s husband and brother-in-law intervened, the men got enraged and abused her and indulged in “unwelcome” physical contacts. While the argument was on, the woman called her father, who arrived at the scene within a few minutes.

“Since the men continued behaving indecently, the police was called. They were beaten up by other customers, hotel staff and policemen before being taken into custody,” father of the injured man told HT.