Protests Break Out In London After Video Of Man Strangling Woman At A Store Goes Viral

Massive protests have ensued on the streets of London, United Kingdom, over footage that appears to show a man grabbing a woman by the throat and dragging her out of a store after she allegedly hit him with a basket. According to The Sun, the brawl took place inside a shop in Peckham on Monday. 

The clip recorded by an onlooker features the woman saying, "Get off me, he's trying to strangle me. Get the f*** off me. Call the police! Call the police! This man just strangled me!" Sharing his side of the story, shopkeeper Sohail Sindho claimed that the woman was the "aggressor".

Protest in South London after woman is choked and assaulted in Peckham Hair & Cosmetics. The woman apparently went to the store to get a refund on a defective product but was denied by the Asian store owner so she took a replacement off the shelf and tried to leave. pic.twitter.com/scEQ0zPdbA

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How did the fight break out? 

In an interview with MyLondon, Sindho said that the woman began acting disrespectfully after she was denied a refund. According to him, the female customer then threatened to steal items from the store and told him, " I will see who's gonna stop me." "She went to one side and I went towards the door, grabbed my phone and I tried to call the police. While I was on the phone, I was stopping her from getting out," he told the outlet. 

He further alleged that the woman slapped him, so he held her from the back of her neck. "She grabbed a basket then she hit it back and hit it on my eye," he went on to say. On the other hand, Edilenny Douteo, the witness who shot the clip, told The Mirror that the duo had been shouting. 

"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. I saw the guy becoming aggressive, and he strangled her very, very badly," the 18-year-old told The Mirror. The scuffle was reported to the Metropolitan Police at 1:16 pm on Monday. Since then, demonstrations have taken over the area with protesters chanting "Keep your hands off black women". As per the force, the woman has been apprehended and an investigation into the incident is underway.