Eshwar Soriakumar said that after being asked to leave and being verbally abused by the chief security guard he expressed that they were being discriminated against . “As we walked away, he called me again, while turning back he hastened and sprayed my eyes, face and mouth profusely with mace.”

Devotees and children started screaming and running and two devotees were thrown to the ground landing on chairs. Mace was sprayed into another devotee’s face and he was grabbed in a headlock while he was beaten. He was hit on the head badly and was bleeding. He also sustained injuries to his ribs. Soriakumar’s wife Arithie was hit on the arm with an object causing severe bruising and swelling, and his daughter Tulsi was hit with a flying whomper (large hand cymbals) which cut her face. Restaurant customers were yelling at the guards and said “Why are they doing this to you, you sing so nicely…” .Said Soriakumar.

“I was blind for about 45 minutes and was moaning in terrible pain. A stranger drove home and brought milk to us for me to neutralize the mace in my eyes. This finally worked.”

The police are investigating a case of assault. Izak Kriel, director of Broll Property, which manages Hatfield Square, described the incident as unfortunate and said one of the guards has been suspended.

Sources: Pretoria Sunday Times & ISKCON Pretoria