Click to play videoNew Delhi: The alleged rape and murder of 22-year-old Jyoti Choudhury, a Wipro call centre worker in Pune is not an isolated incident, such instances have also happened in the past.
An employee of a Hewlett Packard BPO firm, Pratibha Murty was picked up from home by a company cab driver on December 16, 2005.
The driver picked up 24-year-old Pratibha, took her to an isolated place, allegedly raped her and later killed her.
There was a huge furore over the incident. Both multinationals and the police showed some serious concern. But some also saw it as an aberration.
"This is not done. You can't stop women from working at night because of such an incident. If a lady gets molested in a bus, would you stop women from traveling in a bus,” says president, NASSCOM, Kiran Karnik.
Two years later, the alleged rape and murder Jyoti has highlighted the issue of safety of women working in BPOs.
In April 2007, industry body ASSOCHAM suggested that foolproof security arrangements be made for female call centre employees working late night shifts using the Global Positioning System or GPS.
A GPS or a two-way communication system, costs approximately Rs 1, 6000 once installed, the car can be tracked down easily.
While companies like MphasiS, HSBC, Transworks, people Soft and M Source have already installed this system, others are still to implement it
Approximately 40 per cent of the three-and-a-half lakh employees working in the BPO industry are women.
Right HR practices coupled with use of modern technology could be a good start to ensuring safety of women employees.
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