The Quint reached out to High Spirits Cafe and they stated that the allegations have emerged from a single person “with an agenda” trying to “tarnish the reputation of a bar”. Here is their statement:

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the allegations, and completely deny the same. It appears these lies are emanating from a single person, with an agenda, who appears to be a motivated by the desire to tarnish the reputation of a bar that has an unblemished record of not having any issues like this arise in its premises in all 13 years of its existence. Women’s safety has always been a top priority of ours, and all our efforts have been channelled to ensure that this is not compromised. Right from the point when any customer, man or woman, enters the premises until they leave the outlet, we have tried to secure every aspect of their experience. We have female bouncers for security, female administration staff to ensure assistance and vigilance for female patrons, and even screened rickshaw drivers for female patrons, to make sure women get home safe.”