HP faces legal action over murdered worker

HP could face legal action over the rape and murder of one of its Bangalore-based IT staff by a driver of a taxi firm used by the IT giant.

Prathibha Srikanth Murthy, a 24-year-old technical support worker at HP's global delivery contact centre in Bangalore, was raped and then murdered on 18 December 2005 by the driver of a company taxi who had picked her up to drive her to her nightshift.

The law in India forces companies to provide secure transport to and from work for female staff working unsocial hours and nightshifts, and most IT and BPO companies lease taxis to get employees to and from work safely.

HP uses transport company SRS Travel for its employee taxis but claims on this occasion the driver was unauthorised and impersonating the regular shift driver who usually picked up Murthy. The driver has been arrested and is in police custody.

But legal experts in India warn HP could still face a claim for negligence and damages from the victim's family.

Indian IT body Nasscom said it was "shocked and dismayed" at the incident and added that it highlights the need for increased security for staff.

A Nasscom statement said: "The [IT] industry has taken many steps keeping in mind that a large number of staff in the industry are women, and that the nature of work requires many employees - men and women - to work at night.

"We are aware that warped, criminal minds will try to find ways of circumventing the protection and procedures already in place, and therefore, there is need to constantly devise 'better practices'."

HP said it was "shocked and saddened" by the murder and is now co-operating fully with the police authorities carrying out the investigation.

A HP statement said: "HP is instituting increased security control measures to guard against future incidents. These measures have been designed in consultation with both local authorities in India, as well as international security experts.

"We have been advised not to disclose these confidential procedures but are confident that they will help ensure that HP employees work and travel in a secure environment."

Bangalore also suffered a separate security scare on 28 December when a suspected terrorist gunman breached security at the city's Indian Institute of Sciences campus - which silicon.com visited only a month earlier - and shot dead a professor.