Bank employee in Hyderabad dies by suicide due to ‘work pressure’

Hyderabad: A 32-year-old bank employee in Hyderabad allegedly died by suicide due to work pressure on Thursday, January 9.

The victim has been identified as Koti Satyalavanya. Originally from Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh, Satyalavanya and her husband had planned to take time off to visit their hometown. However, it remains unclear whether she was granted leave from her office.

Speaking to Siasat.com, an official from Bachupally police stated, “The victim worked as an assistant manager at a public sector bank’s Bachupally branch in Hyderabad. She went to work as usual on January 9 and after coming back to her residence in the afternoon the victim attempted suicide.”

Upon discovering Koti Satyalavanya unconscious family members rushed her to a nearby hospital. She was declared dead on arrival. The victim’s uncle informed the police that Satyalavanya had often expressed concerns about the increasing work pressure.

Based on the complaint, Bachupally police registered a case.

Further investigation is ongoing.

Increase in suicide due to work pressure

Unfortunately, this is not the first incident that has been reported in Hyderabad, on March 31, a software engineer died by suicide due to work pressure and fear of losing his job.

Hailing from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, the techie was finding it difficult to cope with the pressure due to some new work tools introduced by the company. He was also worried over lack of job security and shared with his brother the fear of losing his job.

On August 21, a bank manager in Telangana’s Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district died by suicide allegedly due to work pressure.

Banoth Suresh, 35, working as the manager of State Bank of India (SBI) at Wankidi mandal which is around 320.4 km away from Hyderabad ended his life by consuming pesticides. According to his family members, he was depressed due to the work pressure.

Apart from Hyderabad, such cases have been observed across India.  One such case involved an additional deputy vice-president at HDFC Bank’s Vibuti Khand branch in Lucknow who collapsed at her workplace leading to her untimely death, as reported by News18.

On Tuesday afternoon, the employee visited the cafeteria on the second floor of her office building with colleagues. After a short while, she suddenly fainted and fell to the ground. Despite efforts from her colleagues to assist, she was declared dead upon arrival at RMLIMS, a nearby hospital.

In a similar incident, Anna Sebastian Perayil, a young employee at Ernst & Young (EY) India, tragically passed away due to work-related stress. Having cleared her CA exams in 2023, Anna had joined EY just four months earlier and was part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi in Pune.

Hyderabad psychologists urge reducing stigma around workplace stress

A 32-year-old, Hyderabad-based clinical psychologist, Zoya Ahmed, shared that many of her clients feel guilt and shame when admitting they are experiencing workplace stress or burnout. She recalled a case of a 22-year-old man who recently entered the corporate world. He often expressed to Zoya that he felt compelled to “do it all” and “be resilient,” fearing that acknowledging his workplace stress would brand him as someone who “can’t work well under pressure,” jeopardising his job. He believed his seniors expected him to take on more work because of his age, viewing any admission of stress as a sign of weakness.

According to reports, many who suffer from mental ill health report that stigma, shame, and silence can be as detrimental as the symptoms themselves. Currently, 1 in 6 employees in the workplace suffers from a common mental health condition in any given week.

(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health professional or contact Roshni, suicide prevention helpline, 040–66202000)

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