BENGALURU: A 25-year-old private firm employee was severely beaten up by a woman petty shop vendor at Immadihalli in the city following a disagreement over purchase of a cigarette. The victim, Rohit Fernandes, a resident of Ramaswamy Layout, went to the shop to buy a cigarette. The woman, identified as Meenakshi Bai, charged him `5 extra, but he paid the money and took the cigarette. He then returned it claiming that it was a duplicate and asked her to return his money. This irked the woman who took an wooden stick and assaulted him.
In his complaint to the police, Fernandes said after dropping his wife at Kadugodi railway station on Saturday, he was on the way to his house on his two-wheeler when he stopped in front of the shop near Kadugodi bus stop around 1.50 pm to buy a cigarette. He asked the shopkeeper to give him a particular brand of cigarette and gave her `10. But Meenakshi asked him to pay `15 for the cigarette. He told her that the cigarette costs `10 and all the shops charge the same, but finally he gave her the extra money and took the cigarette, he said in the complaint.
Fernandes said in the complaint that he found the cigarette was duplicate. He returned it to her immediately and asked her to give back his money. When he stretched his hand towards her asking for the money, Meenakshi caught his hand and started abusing and beating him simultaneously. Shocked, Fernandes tried to leave from there. “But, she asked a person nearby to catch me. I didn’t want to risk injury to myself by trying to leave and stood there,” he added.
Meenakshi then brought an wooden stick from the shop and attacked Fernandes. She hit both his knees and hands. People asked Meenakshi to let him go. But, she paid little heed to them and continued to assault him. Fernandes said he asked her to forgive him, but she slapped him and insulted him. He managed to get out from there and filed a complaint. An investigating officer from Kadugodi police station said, “We have taken up a case of assault against Meenakshi and are investigating further to find out what exactly happened.”