Witness to woman 'being strangled by shopkeeper' breaks silence after protests
An eyewitness of an altercation at a shop in south London which sparked a massive protest earlier today has spoken of the horror attack.
Peckham Hair and Cosmetics closed this afternoon when protestors arrived after footage of the shop owner, Sohail Sindho, with his hands around a woman’s throat was shared online. The shocking footage shows a man appearing to tighten his hands around her throat as she was being escorted from the building. As she attempted to get away from the much larger man, he is seen pinning her arms behind her back.
The video was filmed by Edilenny Dotel, 18, who had been visiting the shop to buy some hair products and started filming when she saw Mr Sindho get aggressive during a row over a refund. She told My London: “I went to the shop to buy some products with my friend. And I saw the lady, they were shouting at each other from the beginning. She was asking for a refund and they told her that is not possible. So she went to the shop and she told them that if you're not gonna get my refund, I want to get what I'm supposed to get for my money."
Edilenny Dotel, 18, caught the altercation online (xxxxxxxxx WS)“When she tried to leave the shop and then the guy pushed her. He pushed her out and then he became aggressive. I saw everything but I didn't record from the beginning because I was like, yeah, he's not gonna do anything because she's a woman. She's like, my size, 5’2 / 5’3. So he's not gonna do anything.
"Then I saw the guy becoming aggressive, and he has strangled her very, very badly. As you can see in the video. He has strangled her and he dragged her into the shop and she tried to take him away from her but she couldn't."
Viral sausage roll debate leaves Brits confused about how to order at Greggs
The protest outside the shop in Peckham earlier today (Rafi Mauro-Benady/MyLondon WS)She added she did not become involved herself as she was the same size of the girl who was attacked and she was concerned she might also be attacked. Instead, she called the police and then went to talk to officers and showed them the video. Earlier tonight London mayor Sadiq Khan posted on X, formerly Twitter, to reassure people. He wrote: "I know Londoners are concerned by the recent events in a shop in Peckham. I'm in touch with the Met Police and am urgently seeking further information."
Mr Sindho, the man alleged to be at the centre of the storm, gave his version of events to MyLondon, saying: "When she told me like, 'I'm gonna grab the stuff from your shop, and I will see who's gonna stop me', she went on the one side and I went towards the door, grabbed my phone and I tried to call police. Like, while I was on the phone, I was stopping her from getting out. Then what happened? Like she slapped me on the face. Then I held her from the back of the neck to keep her from hitting me. She grabbed a basket then she hit it back and hit it on my eye.”
A second protest is set to be held on Saturday (Rafi Mauro-Benady/MyLondon WS)A spokesman for the Met Police said officers were called to the shop on Monday following reports a woman, 31, tried to steal items and an employee prevented her from leaving. The woman was arrested on suspicion of assault and later bailed pending further enquiries. They said of the protest: "We are aware of a protest outside the shop and officers are in touch with the organisers. We appeal for people to remain calm while we carry out a full investigation.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
