Bouncers held for assaulting customer in Goa night club

Soro in Konkani means booze and bouncer is explained in the Oxford dictionary as, “a person employed by a night club or similar establishment to prevent trouble makers and other unwanted people entering or to eject them from the premises”. Ironically, two bouncers from a night club called Soro in Baddem were arrested by the Anjuna Police for attempting to murder a customer.

“Yes, two bouncers from the club, Soro, have been arrested for attempting to kill a customer. The bouncers are in custody whilst the victim is recovering with serious injuries to his head,” Nidhin Valsan, Superintendent of Police, North Goa, told Gomantak Times Digital.

Soro was bereft of activity on Monday night. One security guard manned the entrance whilst another guarded the parking slot. “There is normally not much of a crowd on Monday as it is full from Friday to Sunday,” stated an individual living in the vicinity.

“Based on the information gathered, the victim went to the washroom and the bouncers thought he had taken too much time inside and they got him out and assaulted him. He received eighteen stitches on his head,” said Jivba Dalvi, SDPO, North Goa.

“The incident happened at around 1 am on Saturday and both the bouncers have been booked under section 307,” added Dalvi.

A customer dining there that night disclosed that as some customers were getting ready to leave the place on that eventful Saturday, “There were some loud voices and all of a sudden people were seen running around and it became evident something wrong had happened, so we quickly got away. There was confusion around and we did not wait to find out what was happening. It was a frightening experience.”

The customer added, “It is sad that the bouncers attacked the customer instead of protecting him. It makes the place vulnerable for us.”

Soro, according to people doing business around the area, is a place that closes as dawn nears. “There is always loud noise coming from that place in the early hours of the morning. People start coming by 10 pm and it normally closes around 4 am,” disclosed a shop owner on condition of anonymity.

The attack on the customer at the start of the tourist season is sending a wrong signal, an individual in the vicinity said. “Bouncers today behave like thugs. This is just one incident but one has to look around at other places in the coastal belt to understand what is happening,” he added.

A travel agent, however, agreed partially with this. “Such places are normally not frequented by foreign tourists. That place is frequented by Indian guests and I do not foresee it affecting tourism though it does speak badly about Goa.” The travel agent is expecting foreign guests this season. 

An activist, on condition of anonymity said, “Most places, and there are many, that play loud music after 10 pm normally use these thugs as bouncers to intimidate vigilantes trying to fight the menace of loud music.”

“That bouncers could brutally attack a customer is a good eye opener and hopefully the police reaction will not be just restricted to arrests but lead to a warning and education on the role of bouncers,” felt a restaurateur of the area.

“Bouncers are supposed to protect customers,” agreed North Goa SP Valsan.

Bouncers behaving as thugs seem to be the near norm set to explode this tourism season if the authorities do not start stemming the rot at the bud.