HDFC employee dies on duty in Lucknow, police initiates probe

An HDFC bank employee in Lucknow died under mysterious circumstances on Sep 25 while at work in Vibhutikhand branch, police said.

The employee, Sadaf Fatima, 45, fell off her chair and died instantly.

"Additional deputy VP of HDFC Bank in Vibhutikhand died under suspicious circumstances while working. The record of observation of her body has been filled, and it has been sent for postmortem. The cause of death will be clear after the postmortem report," Vibhutikhand Assistant Commissioner of Police Radharaman Singh was quoted as saying.

Her colleagues were quoted as saying that Sadaf was reeling under immense work pressure. The incident comes amid a nationwide debate over work-related stress after a young Ernst and Young (EY) employee allegedly died of "overwork" recently.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident "extremely worrying" and a reflection of the country's current economic stress. He emphasized that this tragedy highlights the need for companies and government departments to reassess their priorities and working conditions.

“All companies and government departments will have to think seriously in this regard. This is an irreparable loss of the country's human resources. Such sudden deaths bring the working conditions under question." he posted on X.

"The real measure of the progress of any country is not the increase in the figures of services or products but how mentally free, healthy, and happy a person is," he added.

Anna Sebastian, who worked at EY's Pune office for around four months, died in July. Her mother, Anita Augustine recently wrote to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani expressing concerns on the "glorification" of overwork at the consulting firm.

Her father claimed that the 26-year-old raised concerns over work pressure with her seniors.