Government probing EY India employee's death due to 'excessive workload'

The incident has led to a massive outrage on social media after a letter written by the Pune woman's mother to the head of Ernst & Young India went viral.

In Short

• Pune woman died allegedly due to excessive work pressure
• Incident came to light after mother's letter to E&Y India head
• Centre probing allegations of unsafe, exploitative work environment

The Centre on Thursday said it was investigating the circumstances that led to the death of a 26-year-old chartered accountant with Ernst and Young India, allegedly due to excessive work pressure. The incident has led to a massive outrage on social media after a gut-wrenching letter written by the Pune woman's mother to the head of Ernst & Young India went viral.

Minister of State for Labour Shobha Karandlaje said a thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment was underway.

"Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. We are committed to ensuring justice and the Labour Ministry has officially taken up the complaint," Shobha Karandlaje said in a post on X.

The minister was responding to a post by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who called the woman's death very sad and "disturbing at many levels". The former Union Minister also sought a probe into her family's allegations of an exploitative work environment at Ernst and Young India.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the rising cases of young people dying due to stress required attention. "I hope Ernst and Young India will take corrective steps," he tweeted.

Anna Sebastian Perayil, who joined E&Y in March, died on July 20 while undergoing treatment at a Pune hospital. She was admitted after she complained of exhaustion.

The incident came to light earlier this week after a letter written by her mother Anita Augustine to EY's India head went viral.

In the letter, the Pune woman flagged how her daughter was allegedly under extreme work pressure, which in turn affected her health and ultimately led to her death. She also mentioned that no one from E&Y attended her daughter's funeral.

Anita Augustine also said her daughter's managers were "relentless" and the long, excruciating hours eventually took a toll.

In a statement, E&Y India assured the company would work towards providing a healthy workplace.

"We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India," the statement said.