Bajaj Finance worker dies by suicide after seniors ‘mentally torture’ him; family alleges he had to pay from own pocket if failed to meet targets #IndiaFinance

Amid rising cases of deaths due to work pressure, a 42-year-old area manager of a private finance company has allegedly ended his life by hanging at his home in Jhansi over “work pressure”, with his family alleging that he was “mentally tortured” by his seniors to complete recovery target.

Police said on Monday a suicide note was recovered from victim Tarun Saxena in which he levelled charges of exploitation against his senior colleagues.

“Tarun Saxena was working at Bajaj Finance as area manager. He committed suicide on Sunday using a dupatta,” Superintendent of Police (City) Gyanendra Kumar Singh said.

“A suicide note was also recovered from him in which he alleged that he was given higher target by seniors, and pressure was continuously being mounted on him to achieve the said target,” he said.

Action will be taken after a complaint is filed by the family members of the deceased, the SP said, adding the body has been sent for postmortem examination.

Meanwhile, Gaurav Saxena, the brother of the deceased, told reporters in Jhansi, “In the morning, he was mentally tortured by his regional manager Prabhakar Mishra and national manager Vaibhav Saxena. Abuses were also hurled at him during a conference, which was held virtually. He was quite frustrated since that (Saturday) night, following which he took the extreme step (on Sunday).” The brother also claimed that pressure was being exerted on Tarun for 100 per cent recovery of loans (given by the company). “He was told that in case of non-fulfilment of the target, he would have to pay from his own pocket. He was assigned areas like Moth and Talbehat for collection, which are rural areas,” Gaurav Saxena said.

Despite repeated attempts, no comment could be obtained from Bajaj Finance.

In a related incident, Anna Sebastian Perayil, a young employee at Ernst & Young (EY) India, also succumbed to work-related stress. Having passed her CA exams in 2023, Anna joined EY just four months prior and worked in the Audit team at S R Batliboi in Pune.

Her mother claimed that Anna’s death was a result of the “glorification of overwork,” stating in her letter that her daughter was overwhelmed by the excessive workload. She described how Anna worked late into the night and on weekends, often returning to her accommodation completely exhausted.

Despite her promising career, Anna’s life was cut short, and it was reported that no representatives from EY attended her funeral. Her mother expressed concern over the culture of overwork that seems to pervade many corporate environments, reflecting the broader issues faced by employees.