Amidst the hue and cry over the death of EY executive Anna Sebastain Perayil due to workload, a techie self-electrocuted in Chennai on Thursday night. The late Tamil Nadu man was on medication for depression due to work pressure, his family said.
38-year-old Karthikeyan, native to the Theni district of TN, was found wrapped in live wire by his wife. He was a software engineer at a Pallavaram-based firm for the past 15 years.
According to reports, the father of two was alone at home this week as his wife Jayarani had left for a devotional trip with her friends on Monday. Karthikeyan remained at the family's residence in Thazhambur off Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) after dropping his kids with their maternal grandparents, Times Of India (TOI) said in a report.
When the woman returned on Thursday evening, she used her key to enter the house and found her husband unconscious on the floor, fully wrapped with cables. She called neighbours for help, who in turn informed the police.
Due to work pressure, Karthikeyan was depressed and sought assistance at a Medapakkam-based hospital a couple of months back, the daily said.
The incident comes at a time when the nation is discussing the toxic work culture existing in the corporate world. The dialogue was initiated following a letter written by one Anita Augustine to EY chairperson Rajiv Memani went viral. Detailing the work culture in the Pune EY office, Anita exposed the work pressure prevalent in the organisation. Her daughuter Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant, passed away allegedly due to “work stress” while working at the said office. Kochi native Anna Sebastian Perayil joined EY in March, after clearing the C.A. exam last year. She died on July 20.
Later, a friend of Anna's revealed that they had talked a couple of hours before her passing. Ann Mary, a friend of Anna's since school, alleged that her close friend, even in her last conversation, dropped hints about the toxicity and highly demanding nature of her job at EY.
The company's human resource (HR) wing was not of any help to her late friend, she said. Anna's mother Anita had tried to convince the manager and assistant manager of her daughter's health but there was no response, she reportedly said.
(Suicide is not a solution to any problem. Seek the help of mental health experts if you are in distress. Call the ‘DISHA’ Helpline while having such thoughts. Toll-free helpline number: 1056, 0471-2552056)
