[Surprise]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...-murdered.html

This is the second such instance. Why not these companies ensure that no women employees travel alone at any point of time.

If traveling alone, they need to ensure that a security guard accompany the entire trip.

The Hindu : Front Page : Two held for BPO employee’s murder


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Even in my company (smaller one in comparison) (just in employee no's and revenue, not in per employee productivity ) we had appointed a security guard for this purposes. It's only drop services for employee who were struck in calls

[rks]

Shocking and tragic. Bangalore and Pune were supposed to be "safe" cities once upon a time. First Bangalore changed and now Pune is following suit. I frequently return late at night (sometimes as late as 4-00 AM) from my company in Hadapsar, Pune and drive to Kondhwa about 10 kms away. Now I am trying to stop that habit and return by 9-00 PM at the latest. My brother in law laughed at me when I expressed my misgivings and he told me that even women roam about the streets in Mumbai and Pune late into the night (I have seen women on the road even as late as 2-00 AM in Pune).

That will inevitably change as Pune transforms into an IT city. Is this the way forward? Somehow something tells me that we are paying a heavy price for "progress" and I frequently long for the good old days when the air was cleaner, the cities were less polluted/crowded and most important, much safer.

[Steeroid]

This happened in Bangalore sometime back. Why dont we learn from previous mistakes, or does each city have to have its own rape and murder before they take action???

For knowledge-based companies, our IT giants are remarkably poor in learning.

[eclectix 1st]

After the HP incident, most BPOs in Bangalore have enforced NO FIRST PICK UP / NO LAST DROP for female employees. in circumstances where its unavoidable, they make sure there is a security guard with the female employee, when she's alone in the cab with driver.

But its still a small step towards the safety of employees.

[khaadu75]

Guys , Its an unfortunate incident but lets not start blaming the IT companies . Most of the companies if not all have given a very clear set of instructions to women employees that if the cab comes to pick them up and there is no other male employee in that vehicle , they should call the transport depptt's number so that another cab can be sent with a guard and stuff . Also the company ensueres that a woman is never the last to be dropped home . When such clear instructions have been given the woman should have called the company and told them that there was no male in the cab so to pls send another cab .

If you look at the scenario practically then the woman is to be blamed as well ... but its an unfortunate incident and the men should be hung publicily for such a cold blooded and pre planned attack .

[dadu]

It was all premeditated with the driver planning it all out and grouping with another person. What if the security guard also gives in to the scheming ??

Although there is no sure shot formula for it, but a stricter law and faster judgements may discourage the potential criminals.

Another thing can be the timings of pickup and drop, they should try to make a 9-10 PM to 6-7 AM shift. Its usually more people on the roads than at after 11-12 AM and very early mornings.

[Mpower]

Shocking and Sad. Did these guys have a previous criminal record. We need to have a system where a background check will reveal a persons record so that goondas dont get hired.

[Nikhilb2008]

For those who are saying that there should be a security guard in the cab if the female is alone with the driver:

what stops the security guard from being the villain ? Are the secuirty guards really trustworthy ? Arent they also men (Most of the times, from the lower strata of society) ?

[phamilyman]

Really really sad - horrendous start to the morning when I read it.

Btw, via GPS, can the cabs not be tracked, like radio cabs are(so I've heard). Consider a typical 8L tavera - this would add 25-30k cost (basic GPS + backend software + dedicated monitoring team). Given large fleet operators (atleast in delhi), I think this can be implemented. Wotsay?

[Ram]

The rule is that a female employee should not be alone with the driver.
So the girl cannot be the first one picked up or last one dropped.

In this case, the criminal driver had brought along an accomplice to pose as the additional employee. The girl apparently had no way of knowing that the rule had been gotten around fraudulently.

Possible solutions

Technology Support
I would think that call center cabs should have walkie-talkies. The channel should be live and open whenever the taxi is operated at night.

The company's representative should be monitoring the goings on (like an Air Traffic Controller). He should know that he's responsible for any incident with his cars.

That in addition to GPS hardware would ensure the cab is not driven too fast, nor driven to non pre-approved places.

Where is Pune's law enforcement?
I also think that Pune has too few police.
And the few that are there don't scare anybody.

A motorcyclist jumping a red signal does not have to pay a heavy fine on the spot, as it happens in Bombay. A businessman driving while talking on a cellphone would go behind bars in Mumbai, but in Pune, the police seem to be sleeping or non-existent.

The youths who raped and murdered the girl in the paddy field off the expressway, probably were confident they would get away scot free.

That's how non-existent our level of state law enforcement has become.

If the police were even around, stopping call centre cabs randomly at night (surprise checks, night bandobast) and targeting those with no identity cards, crimes like this may become rarer.

[jango]

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Guys , Its an unfortunate incident but lets not start blaming the IT companies . Most of the companies if not all have given a very clear set of instructions to women employees that if the cab comes to pick them up and there is no other male employee in that vehicle , they should call the transport depptt's number so that another cab can be sent with a guard and stuff . Also the company ensueres that a woman is never the last to be dropped home . When such clear instructions have been given the woman should have called the company and told them that there was no male in the cab so to pls send another cab .

If you look at the scenario practically then the woman is to be blamed as well ... but its an unfortunate incident and the men should be hung publicily for such a cold blooded and pre planned attack .

I second Khaadu here. When all women employees are given strict instructions not to board a cab if there are no male employees or security why are they doing so again and again ??. No one would ever blame a lady employee if she comes late to work if the transport dept took time to arrange for a cab with security or a male employee ....As always prevention is better than cure...its the personal duty of all women employees to take care of themselves !!

[thefreak]

Shocking and sad incident.

GPS based tracking along with enforcing the male last drop policy is the only viable option to track the cabs (personally i dont think that verifying the backgrounds of the drivers is of any great consequence - they do not advertise) and I hope that they do wake up to it before any more tragedies like this happen.

[hrishig]

This is really sad.. The worst part is after doing this act the driver rejoined the duty and them dropped few other persons.

This is the hight of how cold blooded somebody can be.

Pune is almost becoming a metro city and we have already start seeing side effects of this transformation.

Regarding the safety there are already instructions given to all the employees + drivers that no woman should be traveling alone.

The driver called the two other male employees and told them that car is punctured so he can't come to pick them up.


The victim lady was talking on the mobile for long time so she never noticed what driver is saying .

[Spitfire]

Such incidents will keep happening. How sure are we that every incident is being reported? Only if there is a murder we get to know about it. Most of the victims would not go to the police as the law is screwed up. People working in call centers would know how badly they are treated by the cab drivers and the supervisors, i know cause i travel with the call center guys from my office whenever i have to stay back late. Its disgusting even to talk to these guys.

Best solution fine Wipro(huge one), the government should force them to shut down their operations until they have a foolproof solution in place. Tough decision and i know its wishful thinking, but when these companies talk about ethics and employee focus one can see they arent really. These BPO firms should know that the employee is their asset, but in these days one can be easily replaced, so no one is bothered.

Wipro needs to be ashamed and other employee's who have continued working even after this episode and have not voiced their concern, shame to you guys. You could start an internal protest without disrupting your work to make life better for your colleagues. Today it was that girl tomorrow it maybe you. You dont need to be raped you could just come under the wheels of a Cab driven by a driver who knows fully well that he MNC cares a hoot.

OT: And please dont speak bad about(not that anyone has done it here) a call center employee i have seen them work, have genuine respect for all these guys who are running families from the money being earned here. Its a tough job. Respect.

Tough words but heck, if it makes a point i dont care.

[rahul_intlad]

A very shocking incident indeed.

But a few things which struck me,The lady was all the while talking on the phone to her friend while traveling for such a long distance,she should surely have suspected something fishy cause no pick-up is so far[35-50kms approx] and the fact that they where heading towards mumbai.The cellphone should instead have been used to call for help.

Somebody told me this happened about 35-40 kms on the pune-mumbai express highway,now there is a toll booth right at the beginning of the express highway why did the women not summon for help there.Also there was so much traffic and patrolling going on on the express highway[was stuck in a jam on the expressway[near lonavala] that very day for more than an hour]how come no one noticed the unfortunate incident which is said to have occurred on the roadside,no one tried to intervene.

Wipro(huge one), the government should force them to shut down their operations until they have a foolproof solution in place.

Wipro already say they have a foolproof solution,how effective it is we all saw.