Small-town girls face big worry after BPO rape-murder

Pune: After a long hard night of dealing with client overseas 26-year-old Ashwini Mohite is finally getting home at 9:30 on Monday morning.

For a girl who spent most of her life in small town Belgaum, even after the three years she has spent in the BPO industry in Pune Ashwini says she still feels unsafe going to work every night.

“Earlier there were no guards outside office. After an incident they got guards,” says Ashwini.

The recent case of rape and murder has only heightened Ashwini's worries.

One of the BPO safety issues is that a large number of small town girls have no relatives in the city who can be called for help in an emergency. The only people who can be called may be other female roommates who also work in other BPOs and may be unreachable.

This, coupled with the fact that cab drivers are often unaccompanied by security staff and the lax verification process of the drivers themselves.

“We are making a database of all the BPOs. All the companies will be told that the drivers' credentials have to be checked,” said Dr P S Pasricha, Director General Police, Maharashtra.

But this is perhaps a little too late for Jyoti Chowdhary whose alleged murderer may have had a past criminal record.

"His previous record is not clean,” said Rajendra Patil, iolice inspector, Talegaon.

But while this case may actually lead to security issues being addressed it has spread fear amongst the employees and their families.

“My parents are worried for me especially after reading news,” says Ashwini.

For the moment though Ashwini is happy that she has completed yet another night shift and is back home safe and secure.

While the BPO industry has empowered several small town girls like Ashwini they continue to work in the sector at their own peril, in the hope the industry will iron out several issues with regard to women safety.

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