Woman Alleges Assault at Goa’s Romeo Lane; Case Resurfaces After Arpora Blaze

Key Points:

A Mumbai woman has accused staff at Goa’s Romeo Lane in Vagator of verbal abuse, physical assault, and unsafe conditions during a late-night visit on November 1, 2025. The incident has resurfaced amid mounting scrutiny of establishments owned by the Luthra brothers.

The complainant, identified as Vaibhavi Chandel, alleged that she and her family were verbally abused and physically assaulted by staff at Romeo Lane. Speaking to ANI, she said the venue had serious safety risks because of its design. “The club is built in such a way that it is very suffocating. It has only one entry and one exit, and that too at a height. So it is tough to enter and exit from that club,” she said.

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Chandel visited the club with 12 cousins and claimed the staff behaved rudely from the beginning. According to her statement, the confrontation began when the group was leaving around 3 am and found a heavy chair placed in their way. “My cousin shifted it aside with his foot,” she recalled.

The staff allegedly reacted aggressively. “You are damaging the furniture; we should have thrown you out earlier. You don’t have the status to be here,” the manager told them, according to her. She alleged the manager then grabbed her cousin’s collar.

The situation escalated when the manager called in security personnel. “They started chasing us and raised their hands at us,” she said. Her sister was allegedly hit on the chest and pushed down the stairs.

“They put up a barricade at the entry gate so we couldn’t leave. When my brother removed it, a bouncer ran towards him with a rod and started hitting him badly,” she said. According to the FIR, when Chandel tried to intervene, the staff slapped her and “tried to pull her t-shirt.” She also said the staff “kept using abusive language.”

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The group approached the police the next morning due to the injuries they sustained. An FIR was filed at the Anjuna Police Station against manager Ajay Kavitkar, staff member Junaid Ali, and the club’s bouncers. Chandel said she had named owners Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, but “somehow, an FIR was filed after a lot of effort,” and the police later removed their names, stating they were not present during the incident.

“If you don’t take women’s safety and tourist safety seriously, such incidents will keep happening in Goa,” she said.

Chandel’s account has resurfaced after the December 6 blaze at Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora – another Luthra-owned property – which killed 25 people. Investigators said the nightclub lacked fire exits, used flammable material, and had no functional fire extinguishers. Firefighters also reported they had to park 400 metres away because the entry route was too narrow for fire engines.

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