Are Women In India Endangered???

IBM staffer alleges rape by 8-10 cab drivers

10 Aug 2008, 0030 hrs IST,TNN

PUNE: In a shocking incident, a 22-year-old woman, working as a customer care executive at the International Business Machines' (IBM) call centre at Phursungi, was allegedly gangraped by eight to 10 people, suspected to be cab drivers, on the intervening night of Thursday-Friday.

This is the second such case involving a call centre employee in the city. IT professional Jyoti Kumari Chaudhary was raped and killed at Talegaon Dabhade in November, 2007.

According to the Loni Kalbhor police, the incident took place on a hill near Tukai Mata temple, near Phursungi. The woman originally hails from Nandurbar and has been working with the IBM call centre for the last one year.

The incident came to light after the victim's boyfriend registered an FIR of mass rape against unidentified cab drivers on Friday.

The incident once again brings into sharp focus the safety of women working in call centres.

According to the FIR, the woman took a cab from her hostel in Phursungi after she received a call from an official of the company late on Thursday night. The woman was reportedly told to come to the office for some urgent work.

The FIR further said that some people, suspected to be cab drivers, chased her vehicle up to a distance and intercepted it in a remote area near the temple and dragged her to the hill and allegedly gang-raped her between 11.30 pm and 1 am.

The police said the woman was later dropped by the suspects at the hostel. When her boyfriend visited her on Friday, she told him that she was not feeling well and disclosed the incident to him, who rushed her to the police station for lodging an FIR.

While at the police station, the woman lost consciousness and the police rushed her to a private hospital at Magarpatta city. She was later taken to the Sassoon hospital for further medical treatment. On the basis of the complaint, the police have registered a case against the suspects and launched a probe to verify the complaint.

This is very sickening. What has happening in India? Almost everyday there are stories where young ladies are grabbed off the streets and raped in moving cars in New Delhi and then dumped someplace, or the call center female workers are gang raped and murdered. Who is really liable and responsible for this? The Indian or the State governments or the IPS or the Indian Population or maybe the American Corporations that employ these women? I grew up in that country back when the streets were very safe for my sisters. What has happened today? Should these rapists be publicly exposed and tried or castrated to set an example for the rest of the men in India? What is the remedy for this problem that seems to be escalating on a daily basis? Given that the female population is dropping drastically do we simply start accepting 'gang rapes' as the new acceptable norm for the local Indian women folk and every single foreign female visiting India? If that is the new reality my heart bleeds and I cry for the women that will be born or visit India. The God's must be really crazy to subject the women to this fate!!!!

It seems like a sad reality but many cab drivers all around the world are like that. Here we get told to only go into licensed cabs because of that problem, but I guess in India you don't get cab licences so anyone can drive a cab.

Corporate women should be more educated about their safety especially if they are getting a cab alone late at night. They could carry around a pepper spray in their bag or a rape alarm. Rape alarms are like watches that you can just tie around your wrist and when you press the button a really load alarm goes off which will probably scare away the potential rapist.

There is also a problem of women not coming forward after they are raped as they are scared of ruining their reputation. This can make some men think that its okay to assault women as they won't get caught.

Thats crazy!! God help us all! This world can be horrible, i think there are many good people in the world but one rotten egg can make everything look and smell bad in that area.

Oh man...! Are these humans or what...? These guys should be imprisoned for life...its such a shameful incident...the government should do something....Policemen should be on duty at night also...or something...