The tenth edition of one of Pakistan’s largest food festivals, Karachi Eat, ended in chaos and mismanagement as attendees shared harrowing accounts of harassment and groping on social media.
According to reports, hundreds of men pushed past security and entered the venue, Karachi’s Beach Park View, without passes or permission on the last day of the food festival.
Visitors shared videos of unruly men jumping the wall, breaking the barricades, and entering the venue.
A video shared by Pakistan Daily reads, “Reports of harassment and chaos in this year's #KarachiEat which saw hundreds of stags gatecrashing the venue leading to cancellation of music performances and other agenda items. Attendees report a complete security failure at the event.”
Recounting the horror, a Twitter user wrote, “There were men outside the venue trying to get in to harass women. The police were trying to control them, and suddenly the lights went out and they were all hooting like crazy. Had to climb out of a broken wall to get safely to my car.”
Popular singer Kaifi Khalil, who was due to perform at the event, said in an Instagram post, “I am a little disappointed and upset because of what happened yesterday. Ladies who came to enjoy the evening with their family and friends were harassed and treated inappropriately by a group of individuals who lacked decency and common sense."
In a statement, the organisers said, “Despite our most stringent efforts, the closing day of our 10th Eat Festival saw unruly crowd behaviour and some very unfortunate and sad incidents occurred."
“This vengeful disregard for rules and regulations gave rise to events that caused much discomfort to innocent people as gate crashers ran amuck." it added. "Our thoughts and sincere apologies for all who were affected by the unruly crowd and the innocent people who were caught in the crossfire.”