Mall presents sequel to street fights
Two words may well describe what happened at a mall in Madina Town area on Friday: unreasonable and absurd.
A brawl broke out at the shopping mall, which verged on a dramatic performance which art critics usually call a tragicomic rendition. A clothes outlet, which happened to be part of a franchise of clothes with its own brand, had announced a grand sale.
Of course, who doesn’t want to get the most out of their money in the times of unprecedented inflation?
Obviously, the event was well publicised, and, no wonder, the turnout of shoppers surpassed the expectations of the shop assistants and those responsible for the running of the day-to-day affairs at the mall, not to mention the security staff tasked with keeping the place safe.
It was but natural that the shop where grand sale on branded clothes was being held became packed to capacity in no time.
The queue at the till stretched to several meters. Everyone wanted to pay for their stuff and hurry out of the mall in the shortest possible time. As they say, time is also money.
Some people happened to be in more hurry than others. Several women who wanted to get ahead the others in the queue ultimately ended up in throwing punches at each other.
Seeing trouble brewing in the shop, the men who had accompanied these women also jumped into the fray.
Police were summoned who arrested four people allegedly involved in the hooliganism which left several women injured.
The security guards allegedly stood as silent spectators. According to a source, the guards appeared to be enjoying the spectacle instead of bringing it to an end.
The women involved in the melee freely punched and kicked each other.
Meanwhile, men related to the groups of women involved in the fight left their homes and headed for the mall, which by that time looked like a battlefield.
More personnel from the Madina Town Police Station reached the mall where they arrested four men.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2023.