Chennai Techie Dies By Suicide, Was In Depression Over Work Pressure: Cops

Chennai: A 38-year-old software engineer suffering from depression died by suicide at his home in Chennai. Police said Karthikeyan electrocuted himself and his wife found him tangled in a live wire Thursday.

Originally from Theni district in Tamil Nadu, Karthikeyan lived in Chennai with his wife and two children, aged 10 and eight years. He had been working as a techie at a software firm for the past 15 years. Police have said Karthikeyan had earlier complained of being upset due to work pressure and was under treatment for depression for two months, according to a report in The Times of India.

Karthikeyan was alone at home at the time of the incident. His wife K Jayarani left for Thirunallur temple, about 300 km from Chennai, on Monday. She dropped off the children at her mother’s place. She returned on Thursday night and knocked, but there was no response. She used a spare key to enter the house and found Karthikeyan lying with a live wire wrapped around his body.

A case of unnatural death has been registered and a probe is on.

The techie’s death by suicide, allegedly due to depression over work pressure, has taken place amid nationwide outrage over toxic work conditions in the aftermath of the death of a 26-year-old chartered accountant with Ernst & Young.

The Union Labour Ministry has launched a probe into the death of Anna Sebastian Perayil after her mother alleged that a work culture that “seems to glorify overwork” affected her health, eventually leading to death.

Anita Augustine wrote to Ersnt & Young India chairman Rajiv Memani that Anna worked late into the night, even on weekends, “with no opportunity to catch her breath”. “Her assistant manager once called her at night with a task that needed to be completed by the next morning, leaving her with barely any time to rest or recover. When she voiced her concerns, she was met with the dismissive response, ‘You can work at night, that’s what we all do’.”

“Anna would return to her room utterly exhausted, sometimes collapsing on the bed without even changing her clothes, only to be bombarded with messages asking for more reports. She was putting in her best efforts, working very hard to meet the deadlines. She was a fighter to the core, not someone to give up easily. We told her to quit, but she wanted to learn and gain new exposure. However, the overwhelming pressure proved too much even for her,” she wrote.

Mr Memani has said that Ernst & Young places the highest importance on the well being of its employees.

In a statement posted on LinkedIn on Thursday night, he said, “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. I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna’s funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again.”

“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 added.