Zomato delivery boy arrested for assaulting Bengaluru female customer

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Police on Wednesday arrested the Zomato delivery executive who has allegedly assaulted a model-turned-makeup artiste during delivery.

According to the Electronic City police, the arrested person has been identified as Kamaraj, who works with the online food delivery platform.

Kamaraj was arrested shortly after Hitesha Chandranee posted a video clip on social media platforms alleging an assault on her, tagging the city police. The video became instantly viral following which social media users demanded immediate action against the accused.

Acknowledging her complaint, Zomato's official Twitter handle mentioned that a local representative will be in touch with her shortly and provide all possible help in the police investigation.

Meanwhile, Zomato said that it has delisted the delivery partner from its app.

"We can't emphasise how sorry we are, rest assured we'll take necessary actions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future," Zomato tweeted.

"We deeply regret this incident and apologise to Hitesha for this traumatic experience. We are in touch with her and are providing our complete support through necessary medical care and investigation. Meanwhile, we have delisted the delivery partner from our platform," Zomato said.

Earlier, Chandranee had posted a video clip on social media, alleging that she was hit by a Zomato delivery executive on Tuesday following an argument over delayed food delivery.

In the four-minute video clip posted on Instagram and Twitter, Chandranee could be seen with a bloody gash on her nose, claiming that the delivery executive had attacked her after she confronted him over the delay in the delivery of her order.

Her Twitter bio says she is a model and makeup artiste, while her Insta bio states that she is a beauty and fashion influencer and content creator.

She has also claimed that she has suffered a nasal bone fracture.

Chandranee, who has 36.4K followers on Instagram, further alleged that the delivery executive barged into her home and abused her as well.

She claimed in the video that she had placed an order at 3.30 p.m. on March 9, which was supposed to be delivered by 4.30 p.m. After she did not receive her order on time, she got in touch with Zomato's customer support and asked them to either waive off the charges for the order or cancel it.

According to her, when the delivery executive, whom she identified as Kamaraj, came to her flat, she asked him to wait as she was speaking to a customer care representative, which is when she says he started abusing her.

"The Zomato delivery guy came and he was so rude. I don't usually open the door because of Shushi (her pet dog). I opened the door a little and through the small slit, I asked him to wait because I was conversing with Zomato's customer support," Chandranee said.

"I gave him a choice, saying I do not need the order so you can take it. But he refused to take the order back and he started screaming at me, saying 'Am I a slave or what? You are asking me to wait here'," she alleged.

Chandranee added that she tried to shut the door but he pushed it back, took her order from the table and punched her on the face before running away.

Alleging that she has suffered a nasal bone fracture, Chandranee said, "I was given high power antibiotics and painkillers because of which I can talk. My nose bleeds as soon as I start talking."

"Hey Hitesha, thank you for speaking to us, we can assure you this is not the experience our delivery universe stands for. Our local representative shall be in touch with you shortly to help you with the police investigation along with assistance on the medical care required. We can't emphasise how sorry we are, rest assured we'll take necessary actions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future," Zomato had tweeted in response to her tweet.

The police have registered a case and are investigating the matter.

(with minor edits from IANS)