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.
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If there was reservation for six people by name and Bidhya’s name was not on the list, then the hotel has all the rights to stop the seventh person. I feel that this group is trying to misuse the identity of the seventh person to hound the hotel management, and take revenge from the hotel because of their strict attitude.
Racist place should be shut down instantly!! The people from north east deserves the same regard as any other Indians.
This is sad part, the hotel license should be kept.