Work pressure and stress forced Shivshankar Mitra, a chief manager at a bank in Baramati, Pune, to choose to die by suicide recently. What makes the incident even more tragic is the fact that he was serving his notice period. One wonders why he couldn’t just have held on for a few more days and be relieved of the workload that he blames in his suicide note? How much was this so-called workload that forced him to take the extreme step even though he had resigned? Was it really the work pressure that forced him to take the step or was his illness serious? These are the questions that remain unanswered.
It is reported that Mitra, who was undergoing some treatment, had asked one of his colleagues to get him a rope and later sent the staff home, volunteering to lock up the office himself that night. Once all the employees had left, he hanged himself.
The lock of the bank branch was opened on his wife’s request who came looking for him, as he hadn’t returned home from work and hadn’t answered her calls.
In his 40s, Mitra had penned a suicide note saying he had decided to die by suicide because he couldn’t handle the workload and was facing health issues. However, he did not give specific names in his note.
Meanwhile, it has been a year since the death of Anna Sebastian, a young chartered accountant who worked at EY and died four months into joining the audit team of the organisation. Those close to her had blamed work pressure and workload for her sudden death. Now, her family, friends and dear ones have got together to form the Anna Sebastian Iniative aimed at supporting and helping professionals who are struggling with work pressure and other issues at work.
