Delhi:
A Pune court has sentenced two men to death for raping and murdering a call centre employee in 2007.
Jyoti Chowdhari, 22, was traveling in her company's pick-up cab on November 1, 2007, when the driver Purushottam Borate and his friend Pradeep Kokate raped and then brutally killed her.
While sentencing the two men to death today, the judge said that the crime was committed with extreme brutality and that sheer lust had driven the accused to rape and murder. He noted that it was a pre-determined act that led a young, hapless girl to lose her life. And that after the crime the two men had calmly pretended that nothing had happened. The judge flatly rejected the defence plea that he show leniency as the accused were young men who should be allowed to reform. He repeatedly mentioned the brutality with which Jyoti was raped and killed.
The public prosecutor, Ujwal Nikam, while calling for maximum punishment, had noted yesterday, ''They had cut her blood vessels in the right wrist and thereafter they threw a stone on her head, and then strangled her with her odhni. I further pointed out to the court that even after committing rape and murder the accused person did not show any repentance or remorse.''
The cab driver and his accomplice were pronounced guilty of raping and murdering Jyoti by the court on last Saturday.
Purushottam Borate had reportedly picked Jyoti from her home at 10 pm for her night shift at the call centre, situated at Hinjewadi area in Pune. According to reports, the driver was joined by his friend Pradeep Kokate in the cab. Ms Jyoti was talking on the phone with her boyfriend and did not realise where they were headed. At 11 pm, Ms Jyoti's boyfriend heard her ask the driver why had he stopped the car after which the phone was disconnected and was unreachable, say reports.
Jyoti's body was found next day in Gahunje a Pune village. The autopsy revealed that she had been raped and strangled to death.
"Let me thank the honorable court for delivering this justice to us. We know very well that Jyoti is not coming back but this judgment is a landmark judgment. We hope it will serve as a deterrent," said a relative of the victim today.
Jyoti, who belonged to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a Science graduate from the University of Pune. She lived with her sister and brother-in-law in the Panchavati area of Pashan and had joined the call centre as an associate in December 2006.
The shocking case was an eye-opener for the booming IT-BPO-call centre industry in Pune in 2007; Jyoti's rape and murder made the industry and police review the safety of women working in the IT industry. Most companies now have security guards in office vehicles when women employees are being dropped off or picked up, especially in the night.