Murder And Fear In India

The murder last week of a female Indian employee of Hewlett-Packard's Bangalore operations raised fears for the thousands of women working night shifts in the country's IT sector. And it highlights how women's vital role in India's IT sector is causing strains in a country where, until recent years, most women married early in life and raised families.

The woman was raped and murdered by a cab driver early in the morning after finishing her shift, police told The Associated Press. The driver was arrested and confessed. Bangalore police asked tech companies to provide escorts to and from work for female employees. HP officials weren't immediately available to comment.

Women will represent about one-third of India's IT workforce by 2007, up from a negligible num-ber several years ago, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, an Indian trade group. "Things have changed very rapidly for us in the past five or six years," says Ritu Anand, global VP of human resources at Tata Consultancy Services.

Personal safety is a growing concern because much of the work that Indian outsourcers perform for their customers occurs at night to accommodate U.S. and European clients.

Industry leaders know their companies' futures depend on qualified female employees. Says TCS's Anand, "We won't be in a position to sustain our growth unless women from all sectors of Indian society can participate."