Call centre employee's rape and murdered sends shock waves

Pune, Nov 3 (UNI) A 22-year-old call centre woman employee was raped and murdered, allegedly by a cab driver and his accomplice in Mumbai last night.

The brutal rape and murder of Jyothi Kumari Choudhari has sent shock waves in the city's IT industry and reminded of a similar incident that occurred in Bangalore a year ago.

Choudhari, a BSc graduate hailing from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, was staying with her sister and brother-in-law at Panchvato Pashan and was employed with service provider Wipro BPO at Hinjewadi for the last ten months.

The woman was raped and murdered, allegedly by a cab driver and his accomplice, after being picked up from her residence in Pashan last night at 2230 hrs.

The police today arrested both the accused, Puroshottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Chandrakant Daitankar told UNI that the victim had left her residence for a night shift but could not reach her place of work. Her body was found this morning in Talegaon-Dabhade on the outskirts of the city.

There was no third person in the car then. Kokade, the second accomplice, was picked up en route to Hinjewadi. The assailants took advantage of Choudhari who was continuously busy talking on her cell phone since she took the vehicle.

When the car reached Dahunje village, the duo forced her out of the car and after raping Choudhari attacked her with some sharp weapon, the DCP added.

Earlier, the Pune Rural Police said the girl was murdered after being struck with a sharp weapon on the head.

Talking to UNI, Police Inspector Rajendra Patil of Rural Police said ''We have taken the call centre cab driver and an accomplice into custody and the duo have confessed to the crime.

We are, however, waiting for the medical reports to confirm rape.

The reports will be available by this evening or tomorrow,'' he said. Meanwhile, Wipro Technologies, in a release, said ''We deeply regret the demise of our employee Jyoti Kumari Choudhary. The police investigation is in progress and we are providing all possible assistance to them. We are extending support to Jyothi's family and hope their need for privacy is respected''.

UNI