Woman alleges Zomato agent attacked her. In case of conflicting reports, company issues statement

Recently, a Bengaluru-based model and makeup artist, Hitesha Chandranee, claimed that a Zomato delivery personnel had allegedly assaulted her for complaining against him over the late delivery of food. In the video, Chandranee says that she was on a call with Zomato’s customer support. She asked them to either refund or waive off the charges of the food because of the late delivery. Meanwhile, she asked the delivery person, Kamaraj, to wait while she talked to Zomato. According to her version of the story, the delivery executive got angry, abused her and hit her in the face that broke her nose.

In his version of the story, Kamaraj stated that it was Chandranee who assaulted him, refused to pay for the order. She even hit him with her slippers and called him expletives in Hindi. She called him a slave and told him that he won't be able to do a thing against her. In his defence, he blocked her attack and she accidentally hit herself with her finger ring.

A day after the incident, he was summoned by the police and reportedly questioned for two hours. He is out on bail for now, while Zomato is taking care of his legal expenses as well. Deepinder Goyal, Co-Founder and CEO, Zomato, has stated on Twitter.

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

The note reads:

Right from the get-go, our topmost priority has been to get to the truth. Towards that, we are helping both Hitesha and Kamaraj (our delivery partner) with all the support they need while the investigation is pending. We are also assisting the police in whichever way asked.

We are in constant touch with Hitesha, covering her medical expenses, and helping her with the proceedings. Also, we are in constant touch with Kamaraj, extending all possible support to make sure both sides of the story come to light and that due process is followed in the spirit of fairness. As per protocol, we have temporarily suspended Kamaraj from active deliveries, but are covering his earnings in the interim while there's an active police investigation. We are also covering his legal expenses for the case.

Also, for the record - Kamaraj has made 5,000 deliveries for us so far, and has a 4.75/5 star rating on our platform (which is one of the highest), and has been working with us for 26 months now. (These are facts, not opinions. or inferences)

I thank all of you for your concern and hope to get to know the truth as soon as possible.

In crux

Following Hitesha’s viral video, Zomato suspended Kamaraj temporarily. He had been booked by Bengaluru police based on Hitesha’s complaint to police. Later, Kamaraj explained his version of the story. He claimed that Hitesha was rude, unwilling to pay and hit him with slippers. His action was in self-defence.

Zomato is covering the costs of both the parties involved. They are also paying Kamaraj's earnings and wait for an unbiased judgement from the police or court. His suspension is a part of the protocol, but according to their statement, they are impartial to either side.