Woman Alleges Physical Assault and Abusive Behavior at Luthra Brothers' Demolished Goa Nightclub

The 'Romeo Lane' beach shack in Goa was demolished recently following official orders.

A beach establishment known as Romeo Lane, owned by the Luthra brothers, came under investigation last month after allegations surfaced regarding staff members assaulting a woman and her family.

Mumbai resident Vaibhav Chandel, who visited the club on November 1, reported that staff members were rude, behaved inappropriately, and physically attacked her group with rods. She described the venue as "suffocating" with limited entry and exit points.

"I visited Romeo Lane in Vagator on November 1 with my cousins. We were 13 people in total. The club is built in such a way that it is very suffocating. It has only one entry and one exit, and that too at a height. So it is tough to enter and exit from that club. The staff spoke to us rudely and behaved inappropriately. When we were leaving the club around 3 am, a heavy chair was in our way. My cousin shifted it aside with his foot," Chandel explained.

According to Chandel, this action angered the staff, with the manager telling them: 'You are damaging the furniture; we should have thrown you out earlier. You don't have the status to be here'. The manager then grabbed her cousin's collar.

"When we tried to apologise and leave, he called all the security personnel, the bouncers. They started chasing us and raised their hands at us. Since it was tough to leave that club, they chased us down and hit people in groups. They hit my sister on the chest, pushed her so badly that she fell down the stairs. They put up a barricade at the entry gate so we couldn't leave. When my brother removed it, a bouncer ran towards him with a rod and started hitting him badly," Chandel recounted.

The FIR states that when Chandel attempted to protect her brother, staff members slapped her and tried to pull at her t-shirt.

Chandel reported that the staff continuously used abusive language toward her group.

"Since everyone was badly hurt, we decided to go to the police station in the morning and not right away. I informed the police, and they told us to come to the Anjuna police Station the next day. Somehow, an FIR was filed after a lot of effort," she said.

A case was registered against the club's manager Ajay Kavitkar, staff member Junaid Ali, and the security personnel.

While Chandel included the names of Luthra brothers - Gaurav and Saurabh - in her complaint, police removed them, stating they weren't at fault as they weren't physically present during the incident.

"If you don't take women's safety and tourist safety seriously, such incidents will keep happening in Goa," Chandel warned.

The 'Romeo Lane' beach shack was demolished earlier this week following orders from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. This demolition came days after a devastating fire killed 25 people at another establishment, 'Birch By Romeo Lane', also owned by the Luthra brothers. The restaurant was constructed illegally on government land - an issue that gained attention following the tragedy.

Charged with culpable homicide, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra fled India hours after the fire, taking an IndiGo flight to Phuket, Thailand. Reports indicate they were in Delhi when the incident occurred.