A Cafe Coffee Day employee of a Jaipur branch has accused law student Arpan Verma of sexual harassment, days after video of an altercation between the two went viral.
On 27 March, Verma said he had visited a branch of the cafe in Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal area, when he spotted cockroaches in the store’s display counter. Verma said that when he tried to complain to the branch staff about the hygiene standards, an employee, Priyanka Priyadarshini, slapped him.
Also Read: Cockroaches Found in Cafe Coffee Day Display Counter in Jaipur
The incident was caught on camera and posted online. The next day, Priyadarshini filled a sexual harassment complaint against Verma, alleging that he called her names and outraged her modesty.
Chena Ram, SHO at the Manak Chowk Police station, where the complaint was filed, told The Quint that an FIR has been registered under section 506 and 354 of the IPC.
The woman employee of the CCD has filed a complaint of criminal intimidation, harassment and misbehaviour. We have filed an FIR and investigating the matter. We have spoken to both the parties. This may be a case of some misunderstanding. We are further investigating the matter. If we find the allegations to be credible then we will take action. The woman filed the complaint and no one from the CCD management has reached out to us.
Soon, #BoycottCCD began to trend on social media, with some accusing the staffer of lodging a false complaint.
While the tussle between the customer and the employee will now play out under the ambit of the law, the report of the CCD counter being infested with cockroaches needs to be looked into as soon as possible.
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