It was a festive Holi evening in the heart of Guwahati.
On the streets of Fancy Bazar, the city's main commercial area, a special programme of popular music and dance was in full swing. A few blocks away, a nightclub was hosting a private Holi party. The club authorities claim that a photographer of a local daily, accompanied by some other young men, wanted to enter the nightclub. When they were refused entry, they called local television channels and the police, alleging that the club's party was morally objectionable.
They succeeded in getting the nightclub raided, but the police found no rules being broken. So the photographer and his friends spent the next few hours lurking outside the nightclub.
When a group of young girls left the nightclub, they were allegedly molested. One of them was forcibly stripped. Witnesses claim they were policemen around, who did not intervene. Only one of the young men was taken into custody briefly by the police, but was soon released.
