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| The assault on the helpless woman |
The nation, and especially anyone
who has ever used an ATM machine would’ve recoiled in horror at the brutal
attack on a woman bank officer by an unidentified (as yet) assailant in
Bengaluru yesterday, caught in excruciating detail by the surveillance camera.
The video shows the lady entering the chamber and is soon followed by the
assailant who downed the metallic rolling shutters of the cabin, probably to
convey the feeling that the machine is down for re-filling cash. He then turns
to the terrified woman with a pistol and a machete demanding something from
her, possibly her ATM PIN. She might have refused (credit be to her!) and then
we see him furiously attacking her with the machete, inflicting serious wounds
on her neck and upper torso. After a brief scuffle, she is seen collapsing on
the floor, mercifully unconscious. The attacker soon left the cabin and it was
only some time later that people noticed blood trickling under the rolling
shutters and the police was informed.
This gruesome incident must wake
up the concerned authorities and the society as a whole to focus on the
security of ATM machines. Till now, the limited security cover wherever it is
provided, is only for the machine and the users are left to fend for
themselves. Very few machines are guarded, particularly if they are attached to
a functioning branch of the bank. There are many locations where an unguarded
ATM is installed in a remote location. Since every machine is now placed under
video surveillance, the banks are content to leave them undefended, in the sure
hope that they can zero in on the miscreant based on video footage. But such
incidents like what happened yesterday in Bengaluru can’t be prevented by such
measures.
Everyone would agree that
assigning guards at every ATM is not an economically viable proposition. Should
the banks be coerced to ensure such protection as a result of misguided public
ire blown out of proportions against the gravity of the incident, it would end
up as an unnecessary cost to be borne by the customers. Are there any
alternate, but easier options left?
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| New lock mechanism |
If we re-examine the video, we
would realize that the incident appears so frightening after the assailant had
downed the rolling shutters confining the victim and the attacker to a small
cubicle out of public view. This action immediately transformed the benign
cubicle into a claustrophobic cavern where one subconsciously surrenders to a
primal fear arising from slumber deep inside our minds. The tiny, closed room
in which the attack takes place awakens a sense of futility at resistance
whether it is a man or a woman. For the onlookers, it surely evokes concerns
about the safety of our loved ones who may find themselves in similar
circumstances. Probably, the incident might not have provoked such
alarm if it had happened in a public place.
A simple, but efficient deterrent
seems to be providing a lock on the rolling shutter door in the fully open
position. Normally, these devices could be locked only in the fully closed
position, and only some minor welding work should be enough to lock it in the
open position too. The maintenance guys only need to possess the key to
temporarily down the shutters at the time of re-filling. If such a locking
arrangement could be provided, the enclosure would be visible at all times,
ensuring safety through transparency, so to say!
This modest mechanism shall serve
to deter a quite few of the miscreants.
