Husband of Bangalore ATM attack victim seeks death for assailant

On November 19,Jyothi Udaya,a 44-year-old bank manager,was brutally attacked in a Corporation Bank ATM at 7am. An intruder entered the kiosk and attacked her when she had gone to withdraw money for her daughter’s birthday party.

The man,wielding a gun and a machete,hit her on the head and nose and fled with all her valuables,drawing down the shutter behind him. While CCTV footage caught all this Jyothi still remained bleeding and unconscious in the ATM kiosk for over three hours. She was only discovered at 10:30 am when passers-by noticed blood near the shutters.

Udaya Kumar added,“I am very angry. The man has attacked my wife very brutally. The capital punishment should be an eye-opener and create fear in the minds of those who think of targeting innocent people. There are 200 policemen deployed to catch that criminal. There is also a 3 lakh reward. But what I want is not all this. I want him to be caught. It has been 14 to 15 days now,why is he not caught yet?”

On Jyothi’s health he said,“Jyothi says she wants to recover fast and get back home as soon as possible. She is eager to play with her daughter. Our daughter,Aatmika came to the hospital and met her mother. She was happy. We have not celebrated Aatmika’s birthday and will celebrate once Jyothi is discharged. Jyothi is going through physiotherapy and asking about visitors.”

When asked about the incident,he said,“I have been advised by the doctors not to discuss the issue right now with Jyothi.”

Meanwhile,despite the presence of guards being made mandatory,Bangalore ATM’s continue to be unsafe. A recent check in ATM kiosks across the city found the machines were either unguarded or the guards were fast asleep.

ATMs in the stretch from J.P. Nagar to Kumbalgodu,Mysore road had just two ATM guards awake.

A spokesman for Banashankari Police said: “Taking care of the ATM security is not our job and hence don’t know if they have guards are not.”

Recently,the city police pulled down shutters on 1037 ATMs after they failed to meet a November 23 deadline for appointing security guards. But even the ATM’s that have guards are not secure as they fail to serve their purpose.

By: Apurva Venkat and Nikita Narvekar

“This story was originally published in IIJNM student newspaper The Daily Observer and is republished with permission.”