According to police, Pal is evading arrest. An officer said: “Pal’s residence in Police Lines was raided, but there is no trace of him or his alleged goons.” The police registered a case against him on Thursday.

Devi was beaten up on Tuesday following an altercation with Pal, who runs a barber shop in an extended part of her house in Rajiv Nagar, Sector 14, Gurgaon. The victim was rushed to Kalyani Hospital where she received 13 stitches on her left check and has a compound fracture on her right hand. “I tried to register a complaint at the police station but the officers told me that this could only be done after they received a medical report and some verifications were required. I don’t know what verification was needed as my wounds are the evidence,” said Devi.

On Tuesday night, Pal was carrying out some construction work on the premises to make a basement and expand his shop. According to the Devi’s brother, Rajinder Singh, they had obtained a stay order around 20 months ago as Pal had earlier tried to get the shop registered under his name.

As Pal was violating the stay order, Devi asked him to stop the construction work. “He went inside the house and came out with an iron rod. As my husband and brother-in-law were not back from work, he took advantage of this and attacked me,” the victim told Newsline.

On Wednesday, while the police were waiting for “verifications”, Pal along with 20 goons stormed the victim’s house. “He broke open our main gate and tried to get into the house, but thankfully he did not succeed. As most of us were in the hospital no one got hurt,” said Singh.