Fights and altercations over bursting crackers are common around Diwali . There are those who feel it is integral to the festival while others complain crackers not only disturb their peace but also pollute the air. This year, with the added dimension of crackers being effectively banned in NCR, the fights have only increased. On Wedneday last week, one such cracker-bursting incident in Gurgaon’s upscale Nirvana Country turned ugly when a child’s mother allegedly physically assaulted the neighbour who had complained, leaving her bruised and injured. The victim, Anchal Kapoor, an engineer living in Gurgaon since the past 11 years, recounts the incident to GT, “A child barely 7-8 years of age had been bursting crackers during the day, starting as early as 7am for about 3-4 days. He was using a cracker-gun that was creating noise and smoke pollution around my neighbourhood. I am asthmatic, and my pet dog was also getting agitated and restless. So, I simply asked the child to stop bursting crackers. Not only was his mother ignorant of the fact that this was disturbing the neighbours, she started yelling at me and told me, ‘You are nobody to lecture my child’.” At this point, Anchal says she decided to record the act on her phone for evidence and complain to the estate manager in the society, which enraged the child’s mother. She says, “I decided to tell the estate manager and so I recorded the child bursting crackers on my phone as evidence. I then politely informed the lady that her child was in contempt of the Supreme Court, as was she. This is when she got verbally abusive, saying things like, ‘Tu hoti kaun hai mere bachche ko kuch bolne wali. Tujhe itna maarungi na ki tu yaad rakhegi!’ And went on to ask her child to continue bursting crackers.”Anchal tells us that she was a bit concerned by the woman’s threatening tone, which is why she called the Police and then decided to speak with the estate manager, and this is when the alleged assault took place. “I went back inside my house and informed the Police because by now, the woman was openly threatening me. I then stepped out of my house to officially complain to the estate manager, when she came running from behind to hit me. I was quite shocked. She even pushed me to the ground and tried to strangle me. I have bruises and scratches all over my arms, ankles, and neck,” says Anchal.A PCR van of Gurgaon Police arrived in about 10 minutes and took Anchal to the Sector 50 police atation to record her statement. “I have filed a police complaint with Sector 50 police station and a medical test was conducted where the doctor agreed that I have been hurt and the other party has no injuries,” she tells us. Anchal adds that although she has part of the fight and threats from the alleged assailant on video, she wishes not to make it public. “I do have videos of her son bursting crackers and her threatening me but for the sake of the privacy of the accused party I have decided not to circulate them. I have shared them with the police, but my intention is not to name and shame anyone,” she says.Surender Singh Phogat, SHO at the Sector 50 police station tells us that both parties have filed written complaints, but so far they have not registered an FIR in the matter. “The other lady claimed that this woman was invading her privacy by recording her and her underage son. We have received both complaints and conducted initial investigations, after which we have advised both parties to sit with us and reach a compromise. However, if either wants to not opt for that, we will register an FIR and continue the investigations,” he says.

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