A lady journalist who was coming out of the St Regis (earlier Palladium), a 5-star hotel in Lower Parel, after covering the Advertising Club of Bombay's Emvie awards, was brutally attacked by a ‘guest’ at the event around 11.30 pm on Friday night.

The lady journalist raised an alarm and the Phoenix Mall security staff managed to detain the offender, Rambabu Ramprakash Godia, who was in a completely inebriated condition. Initially, the organizers of the Emvee event, not made any move to summon the police to take the assailant into custody. The police were ultimately contacted by the fellow journalists. More shockingly, the Advertising Club, and the event coordinator, Fountainhead, made no move to intervene even after the police registered an FIR against the assailant'. The journalist repeatedly contacted the executives, but no assistance was rendered though she was in the police station till 3.00 am in the morning.

The role of the executives of The Advertising Club and Fountainhead was disgraceful to say the least as it was and their invitation the assailant Rambabu Godia managed to sneak into the event. The assailant is a peon at a garment shop, and had nothing to do with the advertising industry or the Emvie awards. It now turns out that an employee of Fountainhead, which organized the event, gave a complimentary pass to the assailant. The accused has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody till September 25.

We demand that the event organisers own up and apologize to the lady journalist and compensate her for her ordeal. The Ad Club and Fountainhead should also launch an internal inquiry and penalize those who were responsible for the lax security at the event. They must also make sure for future events that the safety of journalists especially women is provided for.

Rajesh Mascarenhas   

Secretary

Mumbai Press Club

September 14, 2015