Mumbai, February 28: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the police to investigate the complaint filed by a father, alleging that his son was sexually assaulted inside the posh Otters Club in Bandra by one of its staff. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande has also asked the state government to file a reply affidavit to the petition.
Meanwhile, club secretary Sunil Motwani has filed an intervention application. His Advocate Aabad Ponda submitted that they should be heard before any adverse order was passed. The bench has asked the father to file his reply to the intervention application.
The man’s petition, filed through Advocates Rizwan Merchant and Faiz Merchant, contended that he was threatened against reporting the September 2023 incident. The petitioner has also claimed that the club's disciplinary committee held an internal inquiry and gave a clean chit to the staffer instead of immediately reporting the incident to the police.
What's Otters Club Sex Assault Case?
As per the case registered at the Bandra police station on September 29 last year, the complainant along with his friends and seven-year-old son had been to the club. As the son wanted to have French fries, the man asked him to go to the kitchen and place an order.
Later, the complainant claimed that his son came down crying and complained that a kitchen staff sexually assaulted him. The accused also tried to dissuade the kid from narrating his ordeal, the complainant claimed. When confronted, the club president assured that they would act. Hence, the complainant claimed that he did not report the incident to police immediately.
