Young bank executive's suicide puts scanner on toxic office culture

A 27-year-old executive who joined Axis Bank’s operations at its branch and corporate office in Noida's Sector 128, Axis House, nine months ago died by suicide at her house last week and left a note alleging continuous harassment at work by a group of colleagues, mentioning instances where she was slandered as a “divorcee” and also called “bandariya [monkey]”. Shivani Gupta, who worked as a relationship officer, shut herself inside her room at her house in Ghaziabad’s Sihani Gate and consumed poison around 4pm on July 12. Two hours before that, she had received a termination notice from office in her inbox. Citing the note, in which she named six colleagues, including a sales manager and an area sales manager, Shivani’s brother filed a police complaint against them, following which a first information report (FIR) was filed against them under Section 108 (abetment to suicide) of BNS at Nandgram police station in Ghaziabad.Hired by a third party, Shivani had joined Axis House on October 21 last year after completing her MBA from a private institute. A spokesperson for Axis Bank said, “We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident. We hired a private agency and their employees are working from our office in Sector 128. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to the family. Axis Bank has zero tolerance towards any workplace-related violence. The matter is under investigation, and full cooperation is being provided to authorities in every way possible.”medium nocaption111830433The note, whose contents are now the subject of police investigation, reveals Shivani’s troubled time at the bank, being subjected to offensive language and ridicule over and over for six months that left her feeling cornered in office and affected her mental health, to the extent that she was forced to consult a psychiatrist at Vimhans, a mental health institute in New Delhi.The colleague who Shivani identifies as her main tormentor in the note is another woman, a peer, who bickered with her on trivial things and resorted to name-calling – like “bandariya” – and insults like “dimag se pagal [mad]” and so on. Shivani’s note also mentions an instance of the colleagues making fun of her when her hands trembled, possibly because of the mental agony she was going through. The note says she complained to the sales manager and area sales manager about such behaviour several times, but they would find faults with her. On one occasion, according to the note, when she told them she was unable to tolerate the constant mockery and insisted that her managers take action against the other colleagues, she was told to resign and go home.Police said they were investigating why the abuse started. The note does not mention that. Two incidents that appeared to have aggravated her agony find mention in the note. One was on June 29 when the colleague who regularly bickered with her and four others had lunch near her workstation and became abusive when she asked them to clean up once they were done. The next was on July 9, when she and this colleague came to blows. “She used inappropriate words against me. When I confronted her, she grabbed my hand so tightly that one of her nails pierced the skin and caused blood to trickle out. I slapped her, which led to a fight between us. When I reported the matter to my seniors, they backed her and took action against me,” the note says, adding she did not tell her family as she “did not want to see them in tension too”.medium nocaption111830448On the note’s last page, she asks her brother to take care of the family and ensure her colleagues are handed the strictest punishment. She also gives details of her bank accounts, card PINs and other financials. Her brother Gaurav said in his complaint she had just four days before her death told them about the difficult time she had been going through at work. “My sister had told us that some of her colleagues had been harassing her mentally and physically for the past six months,” the complaint by Gaurav stated. Ravi Kumar Singh, the Nandgram ACP, said, “We have sent the note to handwriting experts to ascertain it was written by her. We will record the statements of her colleagues as well.”Illustrations: TOI+/AI