Corporate Reaction to a Rape

What should be the reaction of a CEO when an employee of his company is raped and murdered? If you are Som Mittal, the IIT- and IIM-educated CEO of HP Global Soft, India, your one and only action should be to cover HP's ass, and not care a whit nor show any empathy for the raped and murdered victim, her family, your other employees or humanity.

Background news:
BPO rape, murder clouds Bangalore from The Indian Express

BPO worker raped and killed in B'lore, driver held from The Hindustan Times

Before I go further, please read this article published in The Deccan Herald: No lapse on our part: HP CEO. For the reader's convenience, I am pasting a copy of the article below, at the end of this post.

When I read the article, I was shocked and angered by the reactions of Som Mittal, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard GlobalSoft Limited, India. (The company has a very strange website, by the way. It has just one section for investors, and nothing else!). Mr Mittal's statements and reactions show without a doubt that his sole motivation is to cover HP's ass, so that the company is not adversely affected by any fall-out from this rape and murder case. In the process, he displays zero empathy and concern for the victim and for his other employees. He talks like a perfect company boy who is devoid of any humanity whatsoever. There appears to be not even a pretense of care or concern. Look at some of the statements he has made in this article, published three days after the news of the rape and murder came out. Would he make similar statements if a lady from his own family had been raped and murdered?

Som Mittal said that there was "no lapse" on the part of the company or the transport firm engaged to ferry the employees.

This is clearly not true because:

1. The criminal driver who picked up the victim from her home knew her cell phone number and knew at what time to pick her up. He also had similar information about two other female employees who refused to board his vehicle prior to his picking up the victim. Clearly, he got this information either from HP GlobalSoft or from the transport firm, SRS Travels.

2. When the legitimate driver, who was actually supposed to pickup the victim came to know that she was picked up by somebody else, he informed HP about it. HP took no action on that information. There were no alarms, no checks done.

3. HP arranged for the pickup of a lone female employee in the middle of the night, without any protection or escort.

4. When the victim's husband called HP to report that his wife was missing, all that they told him was that she did not report to work. The fact that they had been informed about her being picked up by a different driver was lost somewhere.

Keeping all this in view, how the heck could Mr Mittal claim that there was "no lapse" on his company's part?

Asked what precautionary measures have been taken, he said “the element of risk is always there” and that the query was like asking “what precautionary measure can be taken against a suicide bomber.”

This is just nonsense! If there was no way to protect oneself from a suicide bomber, then every president of the United States and Israel would have been a victim of suicide bomb attacks. For decades, the presidents of these countries have been hated by countless suicide bombers. Yet, none of them have been killed by a suicide bomber yet precisely because of the precautionary measures taken in ensuring their safety and security. We are not asking for the American president's secret service type of security for employees. Even simple measures like ensuring that no female employee is ever transported alone would have saved the life of the victim in this case.

“We haven’t even gone into it”, was his reply to the question on providing compensation. It is a one-of-its-kind case where the policy issues of the company are yet to be looked into,” he said and merely noted, “We do provide coverage on PF and Gratuity,”

"What the fuck!", is all I can say in reaction that statement. Hello? It is three days after the tragic news came out, and you guys have still not "gone into" the matter of compensation? It could be acceptable that no decision has been taken in this matter, but it is unacceptable that the CEO of HP GlobalSoft India did what every wussy manager in the history of management has always done: hide behind "policy issues"! You are damn right, it is a "one-of-its-kind case", and you think there is a policy written by HP about what compensation to give for an employee who might be raped and murdered? What the fuck again! This must be the worst example of a manager using the age old "policy" argument to escape responsibility! I doubt that there are many managers who can stoop lower. And then he talks about PF and gratuity like it is a favor the company is doing! If no decision had been reached about what compensation to provide, could he not have simply said they will do their best?

Queried whether HP will take the lead in addressing some of the policy issues the incident has thrown up before BPO industry, he said the company was open to discussing and sharing the best practices within the industry.

Yeah, right! This is another typical lame management response: "We'll see. We'll discuss." Once again, I have to get personal with Mr Mittal: If something like this had happened to a personal relative of his, would he be sitting on his thumbs and making vague statements about discussing and sharing best practices to ensure the safety of the rest of his family? No, he would be doing something about it.

To give an example of what could be done, on the same day that this article a fine exhibit of Mr Mittal's management competencies was published, this was part of an email that Wipro circulated to its staff:


Some of the measures taken by us while operating transport for late night and 24x7 project operations is as
below :
• A dedicated Wipro manned helpdesk to handle queries/concerns.
• All vehicles and drivers are from professional transport companies.
• We maintain all the details of the vehicles and of the drivers such as Driving license copy, residential address, vehicle details etc. in our department.
• All vehicles are fitted with seat belts and are not more than 3 years old.
• We monitor operations with the help our own transport team.
• No first pick up or last drop of lady employee.
• All employees are picked and dropped from/at their homes.
• Display of all contact numbers for any concerns in the vehicles used.
• Display of the route identification in all vehicles.

Some more measures being planned in the near future include
• Police verification of all drivers servicing our requirements.
• ID cards to drivers
• Deploying escort guards in vehicles ferrying lady employees in case of a last drop.

We wish to reiterate a few important points for your safety and request you to adhere to it :
• When traveling alone in the cab make sure you pass on the vehicle registration number to your relative / friend with the estimated time of arrival at your destination. Make sure the driver also hears this conversation.
• Lady employees: Please insist on another male employee to be present in the cab during the night pick-up/drops (between 2100 hrs-0600 hrs). If you happen to be the first pick-up / last drop / lone traveler please do not board the cab. Wipro transport desk will ensure an alternate arrangement is made.
• Please do not board the cab if the identification display is not available. Check with the transport help desk before boarding.
• If any aberration in your pick-up schedule, please notify the Transport desk and confirm before boarding the cab.
• Avoid discussing your personal / immediate plans while in the cab. Keep mobiles charged and with sufficient balance to make emergency calls if required.
• Avoid being friendly with drivers or withdrawing cash from ATMs en route.
• Never permit unknown persons or drivers associates to ride in the same vehicle.
• In case the vehicle stops at a secluded / lonely spot and the driver makes an excuse of engine malfunction / no fuel, get down from the vehicle immediately and from a safe distance, observe his actions and call up the help desk or your Supervisor and inform.
• Any concerns/suggestions or issues to be communicated to the Transport help desk please.

Safety is each one’s responsibility and it always pays to be paranoid than be sorry.
Few useful tips when in danger…
• Your elbows are the strongest points – use them to the extent possible
• Lock doors and leave as soon as you get into your car.
• If ever stuck in a boot of a car, kick out the tail lights and signal through the hole
• When a robber demands your bag, toss it away from you and run in the opposite direction.
• Be alert to anything not normal
• Appear confident and do not panic


While Mr Mittal sits on his thumbs and gives out his company boy's statements as a reaction to one of his own company's employees being raped and murdered, other companies have gone ahead and taken specific, concrete action. Sure, these actions may not protect their employees from a suicide bomber, but these measures would certainly have saved the person and life of the poor lady whose only crime was to work for HP in the middle of the night. And oh, to trust the driver of the transport company hired by HP!

Neither HP nor Mr Mittal should be let off easily. The story of most of India's problems is the story of poor accountability. Anybody can do just about anything and escape if they have enough clout, money and luck on their side. Such lack of accountability encourages and perpetuates more wrongs and evils nationwide. HP should be made to pay heavily for their undoubted lapse. As for Mr Mittal, he should go back and get some much needed training in the basics of being a caring, empathic, sensitive human, before he can be the company boy manager!

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No lapse on our part: HP CEO

DH News Service Bangalore:

Three days after the news about rape and gruesome murder of one of his employees who was on her way to work, left this booming BPO city rattled, Mr Som Mittal,CEO HP Global Soft, India, said that there was “no lapse” on the part of the company or the transport firm engaged to ferry the employees.

Three days after the news about rape and gruesome murder of one of his employees who was on her way to work, left this booming BPO city rattled, Mr Som Mittal,CEO HP Global Soft, India, said that there was “no lapse” on the part of the company or the transport firm engaged to ferry the employees.

Asked what precautionary measures have been taken, he said “the element of risk is always there” and that the query was like asking “what precautionary measure can be taken against a suicide bomber.” Mr Mittal described what happened to Ms Prathibha Srikantamurthy as “shattering.” But answers to the questions on the larger issues that the incident has thrown up were not forthcoming.

“We haven’t even gone into it”, was his reply to the question on providing compensation. It is a one-of-its-kind case where the policy issues of the company are yet to be looked into,” he said and merely noted, “We do provide coverage on PF and Gratuity,” Should BPO companies go in for in-house transport options? No, he said. Just as companies like his are hired by others for specialised services, his company has hired professionals for its transport requirements, he explained. On why the company didn’t check up on Prathibha when she was absent without intimating the office, Mr Mittal responded thus: Absenteeism in this industry is about 12 to 15 per cent. Some inform, others don’t. The latter are referred as the “no shows”; the back-up staff simply fill in their slot. It is not exactly an alarm and at three in the morning we do not call back home. The alarm for us is when we receive complaints of driver’s misbehaviour or non co-operation. Mr Mittal noted that he has already spoken to NASSCOM in the wake of the incident. Queried whether HP will take the lead in addressing some of the policy issues the incident has thrown up before BPO industry, he said the company was open to discussing and sharing the best practices within the industry. In what amounts to a bid to reassure the guardians, Mr Mittal noted, “Parents can come and interact with us, and check for themselves the work place (of their children)”.


Source: No lapse on our part: HP CEO