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BPO worker is raped & killed

The body of a 21-year-old call centre employee with injury marks suggesting rape, was found at a farm in the Talegaon Dabhade area, near Pune, on Friday night.

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She was taken to a village by driver

MUMBAI: The body of a 21-year-old call centre employee, Jyotikumari Ramanand Chowdhary, with injury marks suggesting rape, was found at a farm in the Talegaon Dabhade area, near Pune, on Friday night. The police arrested Purshottam Dashrath Borate, the driver of the call centre vehicle that was to drop her home, and his accomplice Pradeep Yashwant Kokare, for their suspected involvement in the killing.

Chowdhary worked with Spectramind, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) division of the IT giant Wipro, located in the Hinjewadi area of Pune. According to sub-inspector Ranjan Kadam of Talegaon Dabhade police station, Chowdhary left office at about 10.30pm on Thursday. When she did not reach home, her sister, who she lived with in the State Bank colony in Panchvati Nagar, registered a missing persons complaint with the local police on Friday. Chowdhury was from Uttar Pradesh, where her parents live.  

Chowdhury’s body was found in a paddy field at Gaunje village at about 8am on Friday. PSI Kadam said there were strangulation marks on her neck, her head had been crushed with a stone and there was a cut on her right wrist, possibly caused by a blade.

 The body was taken to a nearby government hospital for post-mortem. “Prima facie evidence points to a rape or sexual assault, but we are waiting for forensic and medical reports for confirmation,” Kadam said.

Pravin Patil, additional superintendent of police (Pune, rural), said Borate, 26, and Kokare, 20, who had picked up Chowdhury to drop her home, took her to their village instead, where they allegedly raped and killed her. Chowdhury was apparently speaking to her boyfriend on the way home, and when the call got disconnected, he intimated her sister.
Wipro officials, however, refused to comment on the matter. In a press statement, they expressed regret over the incident, and said: “We deeply regret the demise of our employee Jyoti Kumari Choudhary. The police investigation is in progress. We are providing all possible assistance to the police and are not in a position to share further information at this point. We are extending support to Jyoti’s family, and hope you will respect their need for privacy during their time of grief.”

Chowdhury’s murder has cast a shadow over the safety of women call centre workers all over again. In December 2005, 24-year-old Pratibha, an employee with Hewlett Packard’s call centre in Bangalore, was allegedly raped and murdered by K Shivakumar, the driver of the car that was to drop her home. Her body was found on the outskirts of Bangalore three days after she went missing. Police eventually arrested Shivakumar.

After Pratibha’s murder, BPOs across the country were asked to tighten security for women employees. “There are various steps that need be taken. One is that women should not be the first or last ones to be picked or dropped. Second is to make use of technology and third to put a security guard in the cabs. In this case I don’t know the details. All I can say is that it’s a terrible tragedy,” Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom, told DNA.

In April 2007, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) had suggested certain measures for the safety of women who work late and use public transport. Assocham had recommended foolproof security arrangements using the Global Positioning System or GPS technology. The industry association had particularly mentioned cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune.

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