New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Union Labour Ministry on Thursday said it will probe the death of a 26-year-old woman working with audit firm Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune after her mother accused the company of pressuring her to overwork.
On July 21, 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil died due to “excessive workload” and “work stress”, Perayil’s mother Anita Augustine claimed this in a letter to the company’s chairman Rajiv Memani.
Anna worked in an accounting firm for four months.
“Deeply saddened by the demise of Anna Sebastian Perayil. Allegations of unsafe and exploitative work environment are under investigation,” Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said in a post on social media platform X.
“We are committed to ensure justice. The Labour Ministry has taken over the investigation,” he said.
The Minister of State said this in response to the post of BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in which he had described Anna’s death as very sad and disturbing.
He said, “I request Union Ministers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Shobha Karandlaje to investigate these allegations made by Anna’s mother.”
In a letter to the chairman, Augustine said EY’s work culture “glorifies excessive work while demeaning the person doing the work”. She claimed Anna would return home “completely exhausted” but would still receive a flood of work messages.
Anna’s mother said that her daughter was a fighter, but there was a lot of pressure on her.
Facing severe criticism on social media, EY India said in a statement that the company was deeply saddened by Anna’s death and was taking the family’s correspondence with utmost seriousness and humility.
The company said, “We attach utmost importance to the well-being of all our employees and are committed to providing a healthy work environment for our employees in India.”
Meanwhile, Anna’s father Sibi Joseph said that they have no plans to take any legal action against the company. My wife has written a letter to the chairman to ensure that even though our daughter is gone, this does not happen to anyone else. We are not going to take any legal action against the company.
–IANS
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