They turned on trio after one of them objected to the heckling; RJ Pritam Singh, who happened to be at the spot and rescued the woman, assaulted too
RJ Pritam Singh shows the scratches his car caused during the brawl at Bangur Nagar police station on Sunday. Pic/Anurag Ahire
A woman and her two male friends were assaulted by a group of men after one of her friends objected to them catcalling her in the wee hours of Sunday in Goregaon West. Actor, host, RJ and reality show participant Pritam Singh, popularly known as 'Pritam Pyaare', who spotted the scuffle and rescued the girl was also hurt in the incident.
Singh and his wife were on their way home in their car around 4.30 am when she noticed three to four people abusing and assaulting the trio at a tea stall near MG Road junction on Link Road. She asked him to go help them.
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"One of the accused hit one of the woman's friends on the head with a huge stone. Even as the man fell, the assaulter picked up another stone and was preparing to hit her when I pushed him. He then abused and assaulted me," Singh told mid-day.
"Over a dozen people were watching the incident but no one helped. I was trying to calm the situation down when another five to seven people joined them. They were verbally abusing her and threatening to rape her," Singh added.
Singh said that he was hit with either rods or bamboos on his shoulder, hit on the stomach and chest. The injured man lying on the ground tried to escape but the accused pursued him.
"Meanwhile, I made the woman sit inside my car. I wanted to chase the men who were pursuing the injured man to try and get him in the car, too," Singh said. "As I followed the group in my car, another woman grabbed the victim's hair and tried to pull her out. I sped away and approached the police," Singh's car developed scratches during the brawl.
Singh tweeted to Mumbai police and to MLA and guardian minister Aslam Shaikh about the incident, emphasising on the fact that the incident occurred on Women's Day.
According to sources, the assaulted woman is 25 years old. She shares an apartment with the two men, one of them — hit with the stone and later found by police — being the owner of the company she works for and the other being her boss there. The owner of the company was treated at trauma hospital in Jogeshwari. The trio had gone to Link Road in search of tea and found a vendor near Central Mall. mid-day was not able to reach the woman for comment despite repeated attempts.
"We have registered a case against the assaulters under various sections of the IPC. Two teams are scanning CCTV footage from the spot to identify the accused. We have a clue about who they are and they will be caught soon," said a police officer from Bangur Nagar police station.
Sources added that the woman who tried to pull the victim out of Singh's car is suspected to be one of the accused's mother.
4.30am
Time when the brawl occurred
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