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Kolkata: A Muslim family in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district was allegedly assaulted at a resort on Saturday, September 5, after a dispute over parking escalated.

The family said the assault occurred after they parked their car to inspect a room at Swarnamoyee Beach Resort in the coastal resort village of Mandarmani, when an argument broke out with the hotel staff. A video circulating on social media shows staff violently beating the family, including the elderly and women, with lathis.

Mohammad Asif told local media he was travelling with his family to Mandarmani for vacation and had parked their car at the resort to ask management about rooms. They left the resort after finding the rooms unsuitable and went to another hotel nearby.

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“Our car was parked on the road. Initially, the hotel’s security guard asked us to move it, so I drove it a little further forward,” Asif recounted the incident.

The dispute escalated when the security guard reportedly began hitting Asif and the car with a stick. The family, in their attempt to stop the guard, was also attacked after the resort staff joined in.

“Suddenly, the guard returned and started hitting the car with a stick. When I protested, they began beating me indiscriminately. When my family members tried to intervene and save me, they were assaulted as well,” Asif said.

He added that the staff slapped and struck the family with sticks.

Video footage shows the security guard hitting an elderly man while a woman lies on the ground unconscious. In another clip, a young girl tries to stop the guard from hitting another woman of the family with the stick.

The family lodged a complaint after the Mandarmani Coastal Police reached the spot, having received information about the assault. The police arrested two individuals, the hotel manager Bhaskar Biswas, 35, and security guard Subrata Ghosh, aged 45. 

The police said Biswas, a resident of Nadia district, and Ghosh of North 24 Parganas were produced before the court on Sunday, September 6. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities inspecting what led to the confrontation and the assault.

Hotel Owners’ Association condemned the alleged attack on visitors, stating they should have been treated as guests. “The incident that took place is highly condemnable. Tourists are our guests, and assaulting them was wrong,” said Ashok Adak, its secretary.

He said the association’s representatives have visited the hotel and will “look into the matter” and issue a show-cause notice, seeking a detailed explanation of the incident.