Kolkata: Six youths were arrested on Sunday night following allegations of sexual harassment, physical assault, and criminal intimidation inside a movie theatre at a south Kolkata mall in Kasba. The accused later got bail.The complainants — a doctor couple from Bansdroni and their friends, another couple — told cops they faced continuous abuse from an intoxicated group during a screening. The accused include JU chemical engineering student Srijan Sardar and production engineering student Arindol Ghosh. The others are Anand Kumar, Suresh Kumar, Arvind Kumar, and Manoj Roy.The incident occurred during the 7.25 pm show at Cinepolis at Acropolis mall. According to the complainant, the youths used sexually abusive language at her and her female friend. When they protested, the youths allegedly molested them and assaulted their partners. The woman said: “From the moment we entered the hall, we kept hearing provocative comments from the accused. They came to sit in front of us and kept behaving obscenely. They were chewing gutka and spitting. The comments increased after the interval. One of them also said that he could buy me.”The complainant also said the youths’ female companions later tried to falsely accused the doctor couple of molestation in an attempt to counter the allegations.On the other hand, the youths claimed they were being falsely accused. They said they were discussing the film ‘Mirzapur’ among them and had made no comment about the complainant or her friend.The complainant’s husband said, “We have an issue with the hall management. People were smoking inside and there was no security guard.”When cops came, the accused allegedly made abusive comments to the police as well.“We are deeply concerned about the unfortunate incident that took place on Sunday inside the multiplex involving a doctor couple and a group of six individuals. Immediately upon being informed of the incident, the mall authorities informed Kasba Police. We strongly condemn any form of violence or unruly behaviour on our premises. The safety and security of our patrons remains our highest priority,” said SibSagar Shaw, GM Facility, Acropolis.A JU student said, “One of the accused was debarred fr-om campus after slut-shaming female students and assaulting some students in Nov.”
