Even as dust settled completely on the tragic end of one Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant and an Ernst & Young employee in Pune, following allegations by her mother, about work-related stress, that contributed to her untimely passing away, sparking nationwide debate pushing Indian government officially launch an investigation into cause of death, another suicide by an employee of a financial firm, reportedly owing to excessive work pressure, was reported from Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday (September 30, 2024).
As per reports, a 42-year-old man Tarun Saxena, employed as an area manager at Bajaj Finance, died by suicide in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. In a five-page suicide note written by the deceased, the latter claimed that his seniors at work had been putting unbearable pressure on him to meet his targets for the last two months and threatening him with salary deductions. The victim has mentioned the gory details of his mental turmoil in a five-page testimony of his ordeal.
The Five-page suicide note
In the five-page suicide letter, father of three minor kids, claimed that he was facing immense pressure at work because he was not being able to meet the allocated targets and attached deadlines.
He was entrusted with the work of realizing EMIs of loans serviced by Bajaj Finance, but was not able to meet the deadline owing to different reasons. In his suicide letter, he alleged that the company was making him shell out the amount of unrealized EMIs, which he failed to recover.
He wrote, “I am very tense about the future. I have lost my ability to think. I am going. I have not slept for 45 days. I have hardly eaten. I am under a lot of stress. Senior managers are pressuring me to meet targets at any cost or quit.”
In the suicide not, the mentally distressed Tarun informed his family that he had paid the school fees of the children till year-end and apologized for his actions.
“You all take care of Megha, Yatharth and Pihu. Papa, I have never asked for anything, but am doing so now. Please get the second floor built so that my family can stay comfortably,” mentioned the suicide note.
The employee also named his seniors in the suicide letter and appealed to his family to file a police complaint against them. “They are responsible for my act,” the employee said.
As per senior police officers, the suicide note accuses seniors at Bajaj Finance office for Tarun’s fatal step and if, the deceased’s family submits a complaint in this regard, action would be taken against the accused.
As per psychologists, workplace was a place where most adults were likely to spend a significant part of their energy and time and the work environment and culture impacts an employees’ mental health and living conditions.
Experts feel, non-conducive workplace conditions have been noticed in several cases as a contributing factor in attempt to suicide and suicides.
NCRB Stats on suicide by professionals
According to National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB), nearly one-fourth of all suicides in the country were among daily wage workers in 2021, a number which alarmingly had increased by 11% from the previous year.
India holds the grim record for the highest number of suicides globally. According to an April report from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 171,000 people died by suicide in 2022 alone. This has resulted in a suicide rate of 12.4 per 100,000, the highest ever recorded in the country.
As per NCRB report on the profession of people who died by suicides, nearly 77% of all suicides occur among six professional categories. The Daily wage workers, like last year (2021), constitute over one-quarter of all deaths by suicide, increasing by 8% from last year.
Reports revealed, suicides among self-employed was the third highest at 11% of the total number of suicides, followed by salaried persons at 10%. For those receiving salaries, suicides rose by 3% from the previous year.
Both people who are unemployed and students, constitute 8% of the total suicides each.
