Hope Pratibha’s soul gets peace: Mother

Bangalore : Though unsatisfied with the sentencing for life instead of death by a fast track court here Friday, the mother of Pratibha Murthy, who was raped and murdered five years ago by a BPO cab driver, said she hoped that the soul of her daughter would perhaps get some peace now.

“I hope her soul gets some peace,” Gowramma said looking at the sky and breaking down in tears.

“My house is like a jail. I have no one to turn to,”the widowed mother said as the fast track court pronounced life sentence to Shivkumar.

Gowramma had demanded death sentence for the convict, but the court awarded a “life until death” for Shivkumar.

“He should have been given death,” said a distraught uncle of the victim, S Srinivas.

Pratibha’s husband, who now lives in Pune, said he wanted death, according to a TV report.

The judge said the case is rarest of rare and his punishment is “life until death”, which apparently means he would not be let out after 14 years in prison.

The crime had shocked the country and prompted the BPO sector to formulate safety guidelines.

The judge on Wednesday said all charges of rape and murder were proved against Shivakumar, the driver of a car of the call centre where the victim worked, and he was held guilty.

Pratibha Srikantha Murthy, a call centre employee, was raped and murdered on the night of Dec 13, 2005, allegedly by her office car driver Shivakumar.

The girl was killed after being raped allegedly by the accused who had picked her up on the fateful night when the regular driver failed to turn up.