- Residents of Shiv Vatika Smriti Enclave in Indore have been protesting the use of a penthouse as an Airbnb
- Dispute escalated after power cut and retaliation between residents and owner of the penthouse
- Owner's son rammed car into people, killing one Shampa Pandey
The Pandey household is as shocked as they are grief-stricken. They had gone to protest the use of a penthouse in a residential complex as a homestay or an Airbnb rental but returned home with the body of their daughter. Shampa Pandey, a software engineer and mother of two, was killed on Wednesday night after being run over by a vehicle during a dispute in Madhya Pradesh's Indore.
Wednesday Night Horror
The residents of Shiv Vatika Smriti Enclave in Indore have been protesting the use of the penthouse on the seventh floor of the building as an Airbnb property for a long time now, owing to safety concerns.
"We moved here two months ago and since then we, along with other homeowners, have been raising our voices against the use of residential property for business. We don't feel safe with strangers coming in and out of the building, especially late at night," said a resident while speaking to NDTV.
The residents reportedly had a meeting with the owner of the penthouse, one Kuldeep Chaudhary, on Sunday, hoping to put an end to the long-standing dispute. But, on Wednesday, when the property was rented out again, the residents decided to cut power to the penthouse.
In retaliation, Chaudhary cut the power supply to everyone's house, resulting in a verbal altercation and abuse.
"Kuldeep Chaudhary had called his son saying, 'Aa jao, aaj inka maamla settle karna hai' (Come, we need to settle this today)," recalled a resident. "Chaudhary's son, Monish, got so aggressive that he rammed into people, and then broke the society gate before leaving."
As seen in CCTV footage, Monish pulled out his Swift car and drove into a security guard's wife, who fell to the ground. While people helped her get up and move to the side, Monish circled around, and rammed into Shampa Pandey and drove over her.
Pandey was rushed to the hospital, where she died of her injuries.
"Shampa has two young children, who don't know their mother is dead," said a resident.
Police have arrested the two accused, Chaudhary and his son, Monish. "We are investigating the matter and questioning both the father and son," said Taresh Soni, Town Inspector at Lasudiya.
According to the neighbours, Chaudhary has three to four penthouses in the building, and they demand the delisting of all of them from any marketplace.
When NDTV visited the penthouse on the seventh floor, they found empty beer bottles lying on the terrace outside.
