A hair salon in India has been fined 20 million rupees (£197,000) in damages to a model who was given a bad haircut.
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An Indian consumer court heard that the woman depended on her long hair for adverts from hair product firms.
India’s National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) said the source of income was lost when the salon chopped a huge chunk of her hair against her requests.
The salon is yet to appeal the verdict.
Huge Loss
According to court documents sighted by the BBC, in awarding the damage said, the model lost...
...her expected assignments and suffered a huge loss which completely changed her lifestyle and shattered her dream to be a top model. She underwent severe mental breakdown and trauma due to negligence... in cutting her hair and could not concentrate on her job, and finally she lost her job.
Sometime in 2018, the model went to the salon - part of a prominent hotel chain - but did not meet her regular hairdresser.
The salon suggested someone else attend to her, but they cut off a chunk of hair against her instructions.
Loss of Confidence
In filing an official complaint, the model said her self-confidence suffered a sharp decline, and she was unable to be herself after the haircut. The court heard:
She stopped seeing herself in the mirror. She is a communication professional and [is] required to be involved in meetings and interactive sessions. But she lost her self-confidence due to little hair.
When she complained to the hair salon, she was offered a reparative treatment, which she said only caused further damage to her hair. The court said:
She also suffered loss of income due to mental breakdown after the shoddy haircut and, thereafter, the torturous hair treatment. She left her job also… She has gone through the pain and trauma for the last two years after this incident.
