Hyderabad Techies and Friend ‘Moral-Policed’ by Cops at Upscale Resort at 1:30 AM: ‘Felt Extremely Unsafe’
Three software engineers from Hyderabad and a cinematographer from Mumbai alleged that they were harassed by the police at 1:30 AM on June 22 during their stay at a resort in Eegalapenta, a village about 190 km from Hyderabad. The friends, all in their early thirties, claimed they felt “extremely unsafe” when three policemen suddenly arrived at their door and started shouting at them for disregarding “Indian culture” by staying in one room without being married. Shreya Datta, a software engineer who has been working in Hyderabad for nearly two years, told Moneycontrol that she had booked a double room for herself and a friend at Hilltop Murugavani Resorts for about Rs 8,000. They planned to stay on Saturday night and return to Hyderabad on Sunday. When two more friends joined them for the weekend trip, she called the resort to request an additional room, but there was no vacancy. The resort staff assured them that they would provide mattresses in the same room and seemed fine with the arrangement. Upon checking in, the staff requested her ID proof since the room was booked in her name.
However, around 1 AM, police arrived at the door with the hotel staff. “There were three police officers. First, they asked us who we are and where we are from. Then they asked all of us, including the women, to step out of the room and began to shout at us about Indian culture. They said that unmarried men and women should not stay in a room together,” said Arani Majumder, a software engineer working in Hyderabad for over eight years. According to Datta, the police sub-inspector, D Veeramallu, told them outright that four men and women living in the same room went against Indian culture and started to berate them. “He even sized us up, looking at us from top to bottom. Without the presence of any woman police officer, the whole ordeal was unnerving. We felt extremely unsafe. We kept telling them that we were friends and were put in one room because another room wasn’t available, but he didn’t stop. But as soon as we started recording the incident, he changed tracks and started talking about security.”
Shramana Sen, the cinematographer from Mumbai, added that the police continued with their questioning even after they offered to show the relevant documents. “On camera, they were asking us to answer their questions, but we had already answered all questions. It was difficult to understand what the police actually wanted. It felt like we were being harassed intentionally.” The ordeal lasted for about 15 minutes before the police left. “The incident has left us traumatized. We had only gone for a weekend trip,” Majumder said.
Author:- Apoorva Arora