Terrifying Assault at ATM Counter

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?

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.