The brawl allegedly started when the owner of the restrobar asked a transgender person to dance on the bar table.
(Photo: The Quint)
(Trigger Warning: Description of homophobia. Reader discretion advised.)
At about 10:30 pm on Sunday, 24 July, Abhay Gondane and his friend Mannat Shaikh went to 'The Bar Heist' in Pune's Wakad area, to attend a party organised by Mist LGBT Foundation, a city-based organisation that aims to 'empower' LGBTQIA community.
In the next four hours, 21-year-old Gondane, known among his friends as Shrey, died after jumping from the second floor of the building as he tried to escape the bar's bouncers who were allegedly assaulting his friend and him.
The Wakad Police have registered a case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 143 (whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the owner and bouncers of the restobar.
"Members of the community do not feel safe everywhere. That is the reason we go to parties organised by members of the community, thinking it will be a safe space for us. No one even picked the phone to call the cops or the ambulance. If that was done, today Shrey would have been with me," 24-year-old Shaikh, who identifies as a trans woman, told The Quint.
According to Shaikh, the brawl allegedly started when the owner of the restobar Anurag Gole asked her to dance on the bar table.
"The owner seemed to have a problem with transgender persons. He was mocking me, and when he asked me to dance on the table, I did it just to teach him a lesson. But his wife asked me to get down, and there was a small altercation. When he did the same again, Shrey asked him to back off. Suddenly, there was uncontrollable chaos. The bouncers started hitting both of us, glasses were broken, and we were hit. Chairs were thrown at us," Shaikh said.
"I saw Shrey running out, before I became unconscious. That was the last time I ever saw him. When I woke up, the bar was almost empty. I thought he must have escaped, imagine my shock when I saw him lying in a pool of bed almost half hour later," Shaikh added.
Speaking to The Quint, two eyewitnesses, who did not want to be named, corroborated the events.
Speaking to The Quint, Shyam, co-founder of Mist LGBT Foundation, said that his organisation is not trying to hide anything, and that they will extend full support to Shaikh.
The Quint has reached out The Bar Heist. The article will be updated with their response.
When Shaikh went to the ground floor after half an hour, she not only found an unconscious Shrey, she also did not have a phone to make a call.
According to Shrey's friend Raj, the cops first took him to Aditya Birla Hospital, and later to Sassoon General Hospital. While Raj was not at the party, he was one of the first people to reach the hospital after the incident.
"In Sassoon General Hospital, the police told me that they could have saved Shrey if someone had helped and brought him in earlier. I wished I had gone to the party. His last message to me was asking why I was not there. Why has no one from Mist LGBT put out a statement yet? Is it not the organiser's responsibility?" Raj asked.
Shrey was working at a private company in Pune's Vishrantwadi, a close relative told The Quint, adding that his family stays in Nagpur.
The relative has also sought the cops to release CCTV footage from inside the restobar.
Satyawan Mane, a senior police officer at Wakad station, said:
"We reached the spot as soon as we received a call. We are collecting CCTV footage on what happened. But I can confirm that no one came to help the person when he was injured. Further investigation is underway."
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