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Bajaj Finance manager dies by suicide, leaves behind note citing workplace harassment
Tarun Saxena alleged “extreme pressure” and “humiliation” by his seniors when EMI collection targets fall. Bajaj Finance has not commented on the case so far.
A 42-year-old area manager of Bajaj Finance in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi died by suicide on Sunday alleging repeated "humiliation" by his seniors for “not meeting targets”, news agency PTI reported.
The deceased, identified as Tarun Saxena, was found dead by his house help on Monday morning. He is survived by his parents, wife and two children, reports claimed.
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Police recovered a suicide note, purportedly written to his wife, from his house on Monday in which Tarun levelled charges of “exploitation” and “mental torture” by his seniors.
"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," NDTV quoted from Tarun's suicide note.
In his five-page letter, Saxena said he was worried about losing his job as he was falling short of EMI collection targets. "I am very tense about the future. I have lost my ability to think. I am going," the letter read.
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“He (Saxena) alleged that he was given higher target by seniors, and pressure was continuously being mounted on him to achieve the said target,” said superintendent of police (City) Gyanendra Kumar Singh. The official said Saxena body has been sent for postmortem and promised action after receiving a complaint from the deceased's family members.
Saxena's brother Gaurav Saxena said his brother was “humiliated” during a virtual meeting which caused frustration, leading him to commit suicide. "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)," PTI quoted him as saying in Jhansi.
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Gaurav also alleged that the firm exerted “extreme” pressure and insisted on 100% recovery of loans and threatened to deduct from his brother's pocket in case of failure to meet EMI collection targets. “He was assigned areas like Moth and Talbehat for collection, which are rural areas,” he added.
In his parting message, Tarun said he had paid his children's school fee for the current academic year and apologised to his family members for his fatal decision. "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.
(With inputs from PTI)
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).
