By IANS
Pune : The family of call centre employee Jyoti Choudhary, who was raped and murdered Nov 1 by the pick up cab driver and his accomplice, said Tuesday the accomplice was dressed like a Wipro employee when the car came to pick Jyoti up for the night shift.
The family denied media reports that Jyoti was alone in the BPO cab and stated that she was not careless about rules. They said she had entered the cab thinking the man sitting behind her was an employee.
A close relative Shishir Pundlik said: “The incident shows the gap in claim and reality. It is easy to belittle or blame the victim and hide the enormity of the crime in mere statistics, but we maintain that the perpetrators have committed the crime by deceit and that no provisions are enough unless it can save precious human life.”
The family urged the police and BPO companies to design a security mechanism to ensure maximum safety for employees and prevent such incidents. “We know there is no foolproof system but what we want is that the BPO companies should have ad hoc checks on their cabs, so that the driver has the fear that if he commits a crime he will be caught,” said Gaur Sunder, the brother-in-law in whose house Jyoti stayed.
Jyoti, who hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, was living with her sister and brother-in-law at Panchwati locality in Pune. On Nov 1, she was picked up at 10 p.m. by a taxi hired by the call centre. It was driven by Purushottam, who was accompanied by Pradeep.
The police alleged the men – both in their early 20s – took the victim to Valunje village on the outskirts of Pune and raped her. They later killed her by smashing her head with a stone. Her body was recovered a day later and the suspects arrested.
The family said Tuesday they were waiting for the investigation report of Pune Police. They maintained Jyoti was not very comfortable with night shifts and was keen to quit the job. They also said that Jyoti loved Pune and called it her second home after Sholapur from where she hailed.
Sunder said that BPOs should not take security measures lightly.
Describing Wipro and the Pune Police as very efficient and cooperative in dealing with the matter, Sundar said the system lacked the much-needed sensitivity.
Jyoti’s mother and father are still in Pune. The family said they wanted to take the case to its logical end and make the accused pay for the crime.