Bad hair day costs millions

New Delhi – An Indian salon has been ordered to pay more than $271 000 (about R4 million) in damages to a model for a botched haircut which she claimed caused a “severe mental breakdown”.

Aashna Roy went to the salon at a top New Delhi hotel in 2018 and asked staff to trim a conservative 10cm from her tips.

“However, to the utter shock and surprise of the complainant, the hairdresser chopped off her entire hair leaving only [10cm] from the top and barely touching her shoulders,” a judgment by the city’s consumer court read.

The court determined that as Roy had already established a career lending her skills to advertisements for hair products, the botched haircut had led to “severe mental breakdown and trauma”.

“Women are also emotionally attached with their hair,” it added.