Victim was immediately rushed to hospital and treated; Burger King refuses to take responsibility
Sujit Pathan was treated at the Sahyadri Hospital
A casual get-together by four friends turned out to be extremely painful for one of them who bit into a burger that had bits of glass in it. The four of them had gone to Burger King on FC Road to grab a bite. As soon as Sajit Pathan, 31, bit into his burger, he complained of irritation in his throat and spat blood. When his friends checked the burger, they found pieces of broken glass in it.
The incident took place around 3 pm on Wednesday but came to light only after Pathan lodged a complaint against Burger King and its employees with the Deccan Gymkhana police station on Sunday. Pathan, an autorickshaw driver, is out of danger but is still unable to speak. His friend Ajay Chacale, 33, who was present at Burger King, recalled, "We had all met after a long time when Sajit bought burgers, French fries and soft drinks for all of us. He spent around R521 on these." As soon as Pathan bit into his burger, "he began coughing and we assumed something was stuck in his throat.
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He also had some soft drink to feel better but had begun bleeding by then. We checked his burger and found small pieces of glasses in it. Sajit soon began vomiting, and complained of uneasiness and breathlessness," he added. Pathan was rushed to a nearby private hospital in his autorickshaw but the hospital was not equipped to handle the case and he was shifted to Sahyadri Hospital.
Doctors advised admitting Pathan to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but his friends did not have enough money for it. "We paid Rs 15,000 and returned home. The doctors told us the next day that the small glass pieces would exit the body through excretion and vomiting. We spent around Rs 35,000 at the hospital," Chacale added. When the four approached Burger King, they accused us of mixing the glass pieces to "encash on it and defame them". The friends then approached the police. "We want to teach them a lesson," Chacale said.
Burger King apathetic
Senior inspector Deepak Lagad of Deccan Gymkhana police station who is investigating the case said that an FIR had been registered under sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (an act done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code based on the statements and medical reports provided by the complainant. "We have checked the CCTV footage of the incident and it does prima facie appear like glass pieces were found in the burger but the matter is under investigation," Lagad said. Manager of the FC Road Burger King outlet, Chetan Hegane, however, refused to comment on the incident.
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