Instagram Beauty Influencer Hitesha Chandranee, who had alleged that a Zomato delivery agent had assaulted her, has now reportedly left Bengaluru after the delivery agent in question lodged a counter-FIR against her. Kamaraj, the Zomato delivery agent, had filed an FIR against Hitesha on Monday, alleging that Hitesha initiated the violence by assaulting him with a slipper. Charges under Section 355 (assault), 504 (insult) & 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code have been lodged against Hitesha.
According to reports, Bengaluru’s Electronic City Police said, “We called Hitesha to appear before the investigating officer for questioning, after Kamaraj filed a case of assault against her. But she said she had left the city and is at her aunt’s house in Maharashtra. We have given her time to make her statement once she returns, and the investigation will continue. If she fails to come before police, we will arrest her.”
It is alleged that on March 9th, Hitesha Chandranee ordered food from Zomato which was expected to be delivered by 4:30 PM. However, when the food wasn’t delivered on time, she got into a spat with the Zomato delivery agent, Kamaraj. Here the stories diverge, with Hitesha alleging Kamaraj assaulted her resulting in bleeding from the nose, whereas Kamaraj alleges that Hitesha initiated the scuffle, throwing slippers at Kamaraj whilst he shielded himself by holding his hand against her. It is through this, Kamaraj alleges, that Hitesha hit herself on the nose, resulting in the bleeding.
In Kamaraj’s own words, “She started hitting me with slippers, and at some point in time while safeguarding myself, my left hand touched her right hand, and the ring which she worn hit her nose, and it started bleeding. I don’t want to make it more complicated, let the truth win. If not, I will fight it legally.”
Initially, public perception was positive towards Hitesha as she posted a video on Instagram relaying her allegations against Kamaraj amassing close to almost 23 million views. With Hitesha’s allegations going viral, Zomato had to step in assuring Hitesha of help in regards to the police investigation and medical bills.
I want to chime in about the incident that happened in Bengaluru a few days ago. @zomato pic.twitter.com/8mM9prpMsx
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 12, 2021
However, as Kamaraj’s side of the story came out, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal took to Twitter in order to highlight the steps Zomato is taking to ensure fairness for both Hitesha and Kamaraj. Mr. Goyal went further in his post, highlighting Kamaraj’s stellar record working for Zomato.
