FEMALE EMPLOYEES IN DELHI OFTEN DENIED NIGHT DROP HOME: RISKY ROAD FOR WORKING WOMEN

Cops vow action against the erring companies after employees share harrowing tales

- Chayyanika Nigam & Isha Gupta

THE worst fears of data analyst Ragini Sharma came true recently when she was waiting for public transport near her office after finishing a night shift.

“Three visibly drunk men, who first stood at a distance, came menacingly close to me. I swatted one of them in fear when he tried to touch me. Before they could do anything more, I hopped on a bus that had arrived in the nick of time,” she said.

The 33-year-old is just one of the many Delhi-NCR women battling such harrowing situations because many private firms, including some BPOs and corporate offices, often don’t drop home their night-shift female employees.

Purnima Kapoor’s is another case in point. The 28-year-old had to quit her South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar office that didn’t drop her home after her night shifts.

“My parents often objected to my late working hours, more so after the gang rape and murder of a Hyderabad doctor last month. Cabs for me were available only till 9 pm. They would take me till the Metro station, still two hours from where I live,” she said.

Clearly, Metro doesn’t solve women like Purnima’s problems. It’s the last-mile commute that remains most dangerous. “Every day, I went home while talking to my mother on phone,” she said.

Such situations must be understood in the light of the fact that the police have identified as many as 2,000 dark and dangerous stretches in Delhi where criminals often target vulnerable women.

WHAT THE POLICE SAY

After the horrific December 16 gang rape and murder, the Delhi Police made it mandatory for private companies to drop their night-shift female employees home.