Women in B’lore BPOs are the new karate kids

BANGALORE: Offence is the best form of defence. IT/BPO companies in Bangalore have decided to train their employees in martial arts after the recent incidents that have put a question mark on the safety of women.

Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HP, Mphasis and others are now part of the martial arts bandwagon, initiated five years ago by Satyam and HCL. 

Ashwin Mohan, the trainer in charge of Independent Shoot Fighting Association, says he’s tying up with three new companies a month.

The three-hour course FACTOR is an acronym for frisking (for weapons), acting, controlling (the person by his hair, nose, fingers, ears), taking (the attacker down), observing (for weapons) and running.

“When up against tough situations, the training gets out of a potential trap,” said Hussain Abbas, an engineer at Sasken Communications.

“I’m now better placed to handle problems,” says software professional, Kamini Gowda, who is into kickboxing. Says Tanmay Sahoo of HP, “After the Pratibha Murthy murder, we introduced ‘Give it to them’ where employees are trained to fight attackers.”

k_bhargavi@dnaindia.net