Man forced to pose next to naked woman in Delhi’s Paharganj

In a post on X on April 23rd, user Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj recounted an account of a hotel in Paharganj, Delhi of collaborating with a couple of goons and sexually harassing a man who had booked a room to house his luggage while attending a conference.

The post began with an alarming, ‘DO NOT BOOK CHEAP HOTELS IN PAHARGANJ, DELHI’ in all block letters, immediately grabbing the attention of any individual scrolling down. 

“After his work when he came back to hotel to pick luggage, within minutes some 4-5 goons entered his room along with a woman who stripped immediately. Before he could understand anything, he was slapped and hit by these men. They then took his pics with the woman and threatened that if he said anything, these photos would be made public. He was asked to pay 15000 rupees to leave,” she wrote. 

According to the post, around 4-5 men had entered his room along with a woman who had stripped immediately upon arriving and within split seconds, he was assaulted by these men and forced to take pictures with her. They used these pictures to threaten him, keeping his silence hostage and demanding Rs. 15,000 to leave. Under the impression that the police was involved with the goons, he paid the amount and ran from there.

She added that he hadn’t lodged a complaint because “it seems that the police was also involved.”

In another post, seventeen hours later, she updated that she had been contacted by the Delhi Police and they were seemingly takin the case very seriously, extending all support to the victim. 

Paharganj is a popular spot among tourists looking for cheap lodging in Delhi, especially due to it’s proximity to New Delhi Railway Station and it’s renowned street food hotspots. But due to it’s population density and closely knit network of concrete residences, the area is riddled with pickpockets and other small-time criminals. It is also said that women do not frequent Paharganj at night, with a viral video from December last year posing a group of women walking along the streets at midnight and a passerby calling “Aaja meri jaan,” (come my love) to Geetanjali Kalta, one of the women, and a performer and an audio engineer. These women, lead by Mallika Taneja— an Indian playwright and actor— meant to enter this territory to ‘reclaim’ it for women. In the video, she is seen responding to the jeers at Kalta with, “They are not even creative with their cat-calling.” 

Most tourists in Paharganj are advised to be careful with their belongings and keep everything locked and as close to them as possible and female travellers are called upon to be more mindful of their safety, harassment rife even in daytime. Poverty-stricken, by giving money to one homeless individual can incite a mob of those demanding the same. 

However, despite this, it is one of the most beloved spots of exploration in Delhi— owing to the ambience of it’s quiet rooftop gardens and the tasteful Western-style breakfast, among the plentiful shops selling everything from incense to shoes at budget ranges depicting the art and culture of the streets of India. 

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