On the night of December 14 at around 8pm, 25-year-old BTM Layout resident Prashant Sachan injured his right hand and palm when he was allowed to dance on the glass floor at Hoot Cafe and Brewery on Sarjapur Road. An FIR (First Information Report) is filed against the owner and manager of Hoot and the cops are investigating. Ten days after the incident, Sachan is still at the Columbia Asia Hospital on Sarjapur Road. While the establishment has promised to take care of all the medical bills, they have asked the complainant to withdraw the police case. However, speaking to Residents Watch, Sachan said, “The doctor is yet to tell me when my hand will be fully healed. Only then, can I decide about withdrawing the police complaint.”
On December 14, Sachan had taken to dancing on the 10×12 feet floor made of wood and toughened glass with four other friends. Within 5-10 minutes, the glass floor cracked, and to prevent his fall, Sachan put out his right hand. Glass pieces entered his palm and wrist as he fell into a fish tank beneath the glass flooring that was 3-4 feet in height. Sachan had come to dine out with his friends. After ordering for snacks, he had headed to the vacant space to dance with his pals when the mishap occurred. His friend Aman Srivastav also suffered minor injuries to his right leg due to the broken glass pieces.
While the pub claims that it is not a dance floor and nothing happened to it in the last one year, this incident should send a cautionary note to every dance enthusiast visiting such establishments. Why were people allowed to dance if it was not a dance floor? While Hoot claims to have fixed the broken glass floor, Sachan had to undergo multiple vascular surgeries to fix his right hand. While Hoot scores 4.6/5 on Zomato based on over 10,000 reviews, this incident has come as a shocking revelation.
The Bellandur police has filed three charges against the pub under Indian Penal Code 34 (criminal act by several persons), 337 (endangering life or personal safety), 338 (causing grievous hurt).