An executive with an American technology company is to be prosecuted in India for failing to protect a call-centre worker who was murdered as she returned from her office late at night.

The case, the first of its kind, comes amid mounting concerns over the welfare of the 700,000 call-centre staff in the country, especially the women.

Som Mittal was the head of Hewlett-Packard's operations in Bangalore in December 2005 when Pratibha Srikanth Murthy, 24, was raped and murdered by the driver who was taking her home from a night shift. Her death caused an outcry across the country and continues to fuel a debate over how best to protect a growing workforce — about 40 per cent of whom are women.

Most recently Jyotikumari Chaudhary, a 21-year-old worker for Wipro, the Indian IT giant, was raped and killed in Pune, near Bombay, in November.

Mr Mittal, who also leads the National Association of Software and Services Companies, the body that champions the Indian technology industry, is charged with breaking state laws that say that women who work late must be protected adequately by employers.

He will be the first company head to face such a prosecution after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal to drop the case yesterday.

Companies across the industry tightened internal codes after Ms Murthy's death. Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest private sector employer with 108,000 workers, is among several companies to insist that women are never the first to be picked up by a driver or the last to be dropped off. Infosys recently handed out pepper sprays to employees while others - including Hewlett-Packard - have offered martial arts training.

Workers say that safety guidelines are often ignored. Cars make unscheduled stops and male workers are reluctant to travel out of their way with women colleagues on their own time.

Mr Mittal faces a fine of only 1,000 rupees (£13). The case would, however, hold significant implications for outsourcing companies as they battle to cut costs inflated by the strength of the rupee. Hewlett-Packard said in a statement that it “would like to clarify that the honourable court has not pronounced either Mr Mittal or HP guilty on any count”.

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