Woman in wheelchair claims Gurugram pub denied entry; management refutes charge

PTI, Feb 13, 2022, 2:28 PM IST

A differently abled woman has accused a popular pub in Gurugram’s Cyber Hub of denying her entry as she was wheelchair-bound, a charge refuted by the club management.

With Srishty Pandey’s tweet narrating her ordeal being shared widely on social media, manager of Raasta pub B Madhav claimed the woman was not denied entry but was stopped from going to the dance floor as it was crowded and her wheelchair could have caused an accident.

”I went to my @raastagurgaon with my best friend and her fam last night. This was one of my first outings in so long and I wanted to have fun. Bhaiya (my friend’s elder brother) asked for a table for four. The staff at the desk ignored him twice,” Pandey said in a series of tweets on Saturday.

”The third time he asked, the staff replied with ‘wheelchair andar nahi jaygi’ (the wheelchair can’t go inside).We thought it was an accessibility issue, but it wasn’t. We told him that we’d manage, just book us a table. What he said next left all of shocked for a while,” she added.

”He told us pointing towards me that ‘andar customers disturb hojaynge’ (the customers will get disturbed) and denied us entry, with so much of ease. This came from the staff of a freaking fancy place. After a lot of arguing, he told them to get a table outside. The outside seating was ridiculous. It was getting cold. And I can’t sit out in cold for long because my body gets spastic,” she said in another tweet.

Pandey even posted a video of the argument with the staff of the pub.

The club, Raasta, however, claimed facts were being twisted. ”We did not deny her any entry but she wanted to go on dance floor with her wheelchair. The floor had steps and was crowded. There could have been an accident and it was important for her safety also,” Madhav told PTI.

Actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt reacted to the Twitter thread, saying, ”Am terribly saddened that this happened to you. We suffer from an absolute lack of grace as a society. Wheelchair accessibility is one thing but refusing to see a human being who is confined to one as an equal and deserving of dignity is quite another.” The Gurugram Police too responded to Pandey’s tweet and asked for her contact details. However, Inspector Pawan Malik, SHO of DLF phase 2 police station, said, ”We have not received any complaint yet.”