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Rashila’s father Raju O

Rashila Raju

Bhaben Saikiya

Pune techie murder: Infosys to pay Rs 1 crore, says victim’s dad; IT firm yet to confirm

The company, however, has not committed to the sum, says it is still in discussion; Pune cops investigating CCTV footage to check if techie was sexually abused

Even as Raju O, father of the 24-year-old techie girl from Kerala who was killed on Sunday by the security guard at her Infosys cubicle, insisted that she was the victim of the company’s callousness and claimed that the company had agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 1 crore, the company said it had yet to settle on a final number.

On Sunday night, Rashila Raju OP was allegedly murdered in cold blood by security guard Bhaben Saikiya (27) who hails from Assam and was attempting to escape there before being caught in Mumbai. Saikiya and Raju had reportedly got into a heated altercation over his leering at her and she threatening to write a mail against this harassment to their superiors. An angry Saikiya then strangulated her with a LAN wire and even kicked her repeatedly in the ninth floor conference room. A case of murder was registered with the Hinjewadi police station by the deceased’s team leader — Abijeet Amrut Kothari (28).

’Refused to take body’

Meanwhile, doctors on Monday performed the autopsy at the Sassoon General Hospital where the cause of death has been determined as "death due to ligature strangulation." At the time, there was high drama outside the mortuary where the parents had refused to take the body unless Pravin Kulkarni, a senior HR employee at Infosys accepted that the company was at fault for making their daughter work on a Sunday. They finally accepted the body around 11 pm and the final rites will be performed at her hometown today evening.

Raju O said, "She was working at a reputed company like Infosys, but she was not happy there and was looking to transfer to Bengaluru. I still haven’t got a satisfactory reply as to why my daughter was working alone on a Sunday."

Must teach lesson

He added, "I have lost my daughter and do not want other daughters to suffer like mine so I have approached the police to take stringent action against the company and demanded compensation. I will utilise this money for some social work."

Raju, along with local social workers attached to Kerala Association, Shani Naushad and Rajan Nair, met the Infosys HR on Monday night. Naushad said of the meeting, "The company is playing a blame game with us and their approach is very casual. So around 11 pm, we had the meeting and demanded a compensation of R1 crore, excluding her salary and other reimbursements. The company has assured us they will pay the compensation."

Infosys non-committal

However, sources in Infosys, on condition of anonymity, said, "Yes, a compensation will be given as the incident has taken place in our premises and at her workstation, but the amount is not yet officially finalised."

Cops say

Senior inspector Arun Waykar of Hinjewadi police station said, "The post mortem report mentioned murder, but there is no word about physical abuse or rape. We are investigating the CCTV footage near the cubicles. The CCTV camera, however, did not monitor the conference hall."

Pune techie’s killer tries to end his life in police lock-up

He said he didn’t want to live, as his mother is no longer speaking to him

Pune: Infosys guard Bhaben Saikiya (27) brutally murdered 24-year-old Rasila OP in her office cubicle because he could not digest the fact that she had dared to rebuke him for staring at her. Now, he wants to take his own life because his mother cannot digest his horrific actions.

Two attempts

Sources from the Hinjewadi police told this reporter, "Saikiya is in police custody and our team is investigating the case. On Wednesday morning, while the team was busy preparing the case papers, he began banging his head on the iron bars of the lock-up. He claimed he no longer wanted to live, as even his mother was not speaking to him." Just yesterday, mid-day had reported that Saikiya’s mother disowned him after he confessed his crime to her (’I am no more his mother, punish him’).

In fact, cops said this was not the first time he tried to take his life. "That same afternoon, when we inspected the CCTV footage from the crime scene, we discovered that on the day of the murder as well, he had tried to jump from the ninth floor window. After this, we took the necessary precautions and have posted constables to keep an eye on him at all times," said the cop.

Security lapses

In the meanwhile, the Hinjewadi police have also discovered several security lapses at the Hinjewadi office of Infosys where Rasila was working alone on Sunday, before Saikiya garrotted her with LAN cables.

ACP (Chaturshrungi division) Vaishali Jadhav-Mane, who is investigating the case, said, "The deceased, Rasila had to work till late evening on Sunday, but there was no special security arrangement for her. The security force deployed at the office had not renewed their licences either. This is against regulations. We are in the process of recording the statements of the company and security officials."

It was after Rasila stopped responding to her team’s emails that they realised something was wrong and asked the office security to check on her. She was found in a pool of blood in her cubicle.

The ACP added, "Saikiya was a Std 12-pass and had been working at Infosys as a security guard for the last six months. His background check is clear. Earlier, he was a waiter." On Monday, Saikiya was traced to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, where he was trying to board a train to his hometown in Guwahati. He will remain in police custody till Saturday.

9-point safety rules

> 24x7 CCTV surveillance

> Women cannot be first or last in office pick-up and drop service

> Employ one female guard for every 25 women employees

> No woman to work alone in office

> Continuous patrol by women guards

> Background check and detailed records for each security guard

> No woman to work in office on weekends unless HR makes special security arrangements

> HR must take cognisance of each complaint reported by women

> Be sensitive to women staffers’ safety requirements