BANGALORE: A taxi-driver raped and killed a 24-year-old call centre employee in Bangalore after picking her up from home for an early morning shift.
Prathibha Srikanth Murthy, who got married recently, was picked up at about 2am on Tuesday. But instead of taking her to her HP GlobalSoft call centre, the driver took her to an underdeveloped suburb.
The crime came to light when Prathibha’s husband, a software engineer, lodged a missing complaint with the police. Later on Tuesday, the driver confessed to raping and killing the woman, Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar said.
Taxis ferrying BPO workers have already earned a bad name for frequent accidents, but with a driver working with a multinational turning killer, denizens of India’s tech capital are horrified.
“The driver had planned to molest the victim. But when she raised an alarm, he slit her throat,” DCP Kumar said. “It is surprising that the call centre did not provide escorts to woman employees. It is a big negligence.”
The murder has prompted police to direct over 1,500 IT and BPO firms in and around the city to make it mandatory for drivers of cabs to register themselves with the nearest police station.
HP GlobalSoft officials were summoned by police to organise security for female employees. They later said new security measures are being put in place.
HP GlobalSoft said the driver who killed their employee was assigned another route, but the one who was to pick her up arrived a little late. “The driver who collected the employee from her residence was unauthorised,” spokesman Amit Sircar said.
“We condemn this dastardly act and are working with the police to complete their investigation and ensure justice.” But the company came under fire for not having provided escorts for women working on late shifts. “The least HP could have done was to give security,” a relative of the Murthys said.
NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik expressed shock at the crime and said measures should be taken to ensure the safety of women working in the IT sector. He urged companies to work with police in this effort.
