Infosys suspends techie
By Priya

Early Jan, 2010, the entire Indian media reported the story about how Bangalore police had arrested Infosys employee and IT professional Pallabh Chakraborthy as well as his wife for torturing their 14-year old maid. They treated her like a slave – minimum clothing, regular beatings and only one meal a day. Things came to such a pass that they poured boiling oil on her because of which she had to be rushed to hospital.

The police arrested the techie and his wife. The wife has been granted bail because she has to look after her own child.

Indians are in agreement that anyone who tortures domestic staff should be given a fair trial, and if proven guilty put in jail for a long time.  But this case raises a number of issues which need  to be discussed as we mature as a civic society.

The first is why smaller sites like Techgoss and the mainstream national Indian media name the employer of the alleged culprit.  After all,  in this case Infosys had nothing to do with the torture of domestic help done by an employee in the secrecy of his home.  Naturally, Infosys should be named if  the company had a role in hiring domestic staff and or if the mistreatment had occurred on the company premises.

In this case the bright brand of Infosys is being harmed by the alleged misdeeds of an employee done in the privacy of his home.

General,  the media in US and Europe do not name a person’s employer when they report crimes which happen in households.

Do Indian media name blue chip companies to ‘sell’ their news story? The name of any blue chip company linked to a crime is a sure formula to grab more readers.

The second issue is Infosys suspending the techie even before a court has pronounced him guilty.  On Jan 8, Infosys suspended their Techie Pallabh Chakraborthy and quietly leaked the news to media. This may be directly related to the Indian media making it a point to mention in every report that Pallabh worked for Infosys. So Infosys was forced to cut him lose.

It is in the long term interests of our country that we follow due process. What has Infosys (or any tech company) got to do with what happens in the privacy of employees’ homes?  Why should we Indian media report the name of a tech company if it was not involved in any crime? Why should an employee be suspended before a court passes judgment?

The Indian Government is going all out to ensure even barbaric terrorists and cold blooded murderers like Kasab are given a proper trial despite the entire country seeing footage of the criminal gunning down innocent people in Mumbai.

It will take some time and many more resources for our Police and Judicial system to grant prompt justice to victims.  Till then, we should try to avoid trial by media and justice of the mob.  In this case the media may be right and the protestors having their hearts in their right place,  but we have to create a better system for our children.

Naturally, anyone mistreating a child should be given a lengthy jail sentence.

(Techgoss had published the following on Jan 6, 2010)

Techie tortures maid
By Ria Sharma

Sadly, there are still many Indians who believe they can mistreat the powerless and poor and no one will hold them accountable. Some Indian techies also indulge in this criminal behaviour.

But it seems that the media and NGO’s have decided to become proactive in holding them accountable for their cruel actions. The Indian public no longer will turn a blind eye to these atrocities.

This week, the entire Indian media reported the story about how Bangalore police had arrested Infosys employee and IT professional Pallabh Chakraborthy and his wife for torturing their 14-year old maid. They treated her like a slave – minimum clothing, regular beatings and only one meal a day. Things came to such a pass that they poured boiling oil on her because of which she had to be rushed to hospital.

The police arrested the techie and his wife who are now out on bail.

While the mainstream media moved on to other national stories, local newspaper Bangalore Mirror provided an update on Jan 5.

“
 More than 200 child rights activists and citizens under the banner of Campaign Against Child Labour (Karnataka chapter) held an hour long protest on Monday outside the apartment of IT professional Pallabh Chakraborthy, who was arrested along with his wife Sinchita for torturing their 14-year-old maid Durga.
 
The protesters included activists of Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), Child Right Alliance, Forum for Street and Working Children. They also took out a procession in Sumasunderpalya under HSR layout police limits before gathering outside Chakraborthy's house.
“