“No Sleep For 45 Days”: Loan Company Staff Dies By Suicide, Blames Work Pressure

A 42-year-old man, who was working as an area manager with Bajaj Finance, has died by suicide in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi. Tarun Saxena has said in a note that his seniors at work had been pressuring him to meet his targets for the past two months and threatening him with salary deductions. Bajaj Finance is yet to respond to the allegations.

Tarun was found dead this morning by the house help. He had locked his wife and two children in another room. He is survived by his parents, wife Megha and children Yatharth and Pihu.

In a five-page letter addressed to his wife, Tarun wrote that he was under immense stress because he could not meet targets despite trying his best. Tarun was tasked with the collection of EMIs of Bajaj Finance loans from his area, but was falling short of targets due to several issues. He also said he was worried he may lose his job. He wrote that his seniors repeatedly humiliated him. "I am very tense about the future. I have lost my ability to think. I am going."

Tarun has said he and his colleagues were made to pay for the EMIs they could not recover from their area. He wrote that he had repeatedly raised the problems faced in recovery with his seniors, but they were not ready to listen to him. "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."

Tarun also wrote that he had paid his children's school fees till year-end and apologised to his family members. "You all take care of Megha, Yatharth and Pihu. Mummy, 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," he said.

He asked his children to study well and take care of their mother. He asked his relatives to ensure his family gets the insurance money. He also named his seniors and asked his family to register a police complaint against them. "They are responsible for my decision."

Tarun's cousin Gaurav Saxena, who lives nearby, said he was being pressured to increase the recovery of loans. "At a video conference at 6 am today, his seniors built the mental pressure. They said he cannot work and he must be sacked. He has named them in his suicide note."

Senior police officer Vinod Kumar Gautam said they are getting the post-mortem note. "The suicide note says his seniors were pressuring him over the targets. If we get a complaint from the family, we will take action."

Tarun Saxena's death by suicide and his letter blaming his senior managers come amid a nationwide conversation over toxic work culture in the aftermath of the death of a 26-year-old chartered accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil.

Earlier this month, a letter by Anna's mother Anita Augustine sparked massive outrage on social media. In a letter to Ernst & Young India chairman Rajiv Memani, she wrote that her daughter died just four months after joining the company and called on its leadership to change a work culture that "seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human being behind the role". She wrote that Anna worked late into the night, even on weekends, "with no opportunity to catch her breath".

Mr Memani responded that he was "deeply saddened". "I am deeply saddened and as a father, I can only imagine Ms Augustine's grief. I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives."

The EY India Chairman said he was aware that people had commented on some of the company's work practices on social media. "I would like to affirm that the well-being of our people is my top-most priority and I will personally champion this objective. I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished," he said in a LinkedIn post. Amid the uproar over Anit Augustine's letter, the Union Labour ministry has launched a probe into the circumstances leading to her daughter's delay.