No sleep for 45 days, barely eaten: 42-year-old man dies of 'work pressure'

A 42-year-old Bajaj Finance employee, Tarun Saxena, died by suicide allegedly after severe work pressure and mental distress from seniors.

A 42-year-old worker at Bajaj Finance died by suicide on Sunday, citing unbearable work pressure and mental torture by his seniors. He locked his wife and two children in a room before taking the drastic step.

Tarun Saxena, was found dead by his house help on Monday morning. Tarun is survived by his parents, wife and two children.(@atulmodani (X))

In his suicide note, Tarun Saxena details his struggles to meet recovery targets, despite his best efforts, and the humiliation he faced from his seniors.

He mentions that he hadn't slept for 45 days, had barely eaten, and was under immense stress. He also apologised to his family and asked them to take care of each other.

"I am very tense about the future. I have lost my ability to think. I am going," NDTV quoted the suicide note.

"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 added in the note.

Police said that his body was found by the house help along with the note addressed to his wife Megha.

"Tarun Saxena was working at Bajaj Finance as an area manager. He committed suicide on Sunday using a dupatta," Superintendent of Police (City) Gyanendra Kumar Singh told news agency PTI.

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

The family is alleging that "mental torture" by his seniors led Tarun to take his life.

Tarun's cousin, Gaurav Saxena, alleged that his seniors, including the regional manager and national manager at the company, mentally tortured him during a virtual conference a day before he died.

"In the morning, he was mentally tortured by his regional manager and national manager. 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)," Gaurav told reporters.

"He was told that in case of non-fulfillment of the target, he would have to pay from his pocket. He was assigned areas like Moth and Talbehat for collection, which are rural," he added.

Bajaj Finance has yet to respond to the allegations.

Debate on workplace pressure

The incident comes just days after a worker at accounting firm Ernst and Young (EY) died allegedly due to "overwork". The incidents have sparked a nationwide debate on workplace pressure.

26-year-old Anna Sebastian, who worked at EY's Pune office for around four months, died in July. Her mother wrote to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani earlier this month and flagged the "glorification" of overwork at the consulting firm.

In a separate incident, an HDFC bank employee died in office under mysterious circumstances, and her colleagues have alleged that she was being overworked.

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).