Delhi restaurant allegedly refuses to serve underprivileged children
A restaurant in Delhi is facing a government investigation for allegedly refusing to serve food to a group of underprivileged children and asking them to leave instead.
On June 12, a writer named Sonali Shetty brought a group of eight street children to the Shiv Sagar restaurant to celebrate her husband's birthday. "The owner discriminated against the kids and refused service citing that the kids aren't well-dressed and look dirty," Shetty later told reporters. She also said that she had subsequently protested outside the restaurant for several hours.
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In response, the restaurant has argued that it asked the children to leave because they were disturbing other customers. "As a restaurateur, we have rights reserved to deny service if our guests are getting disturbed," a spokesperson for Shiv Sagar said.
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"We do not discriminate against anybody. We give service to everyone, but if someone enters the restaurant and behaves aggressively then we can't give service. This is exactly what happened yesterday. She was very aggressive. She wanted free food and we denied it," the restaurant's owner Vihur Kanodia told reporters.
The Delhi government has ordered an investigation into the incident, and said that if the charges are found to be true, the restaurant's license will be revoked. Early reports suggest that CCTV footage showed the children inside the restaurant without getting any food for close to one-and-a-half hours.
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Sonam Joshi was Mashable's principal correspondent in India. She has previously worked for The Times of India group and Time Out Delhi, and written for The Caravan, Mint Lounge and Yahoo Originals.
