‘India’s children put through slavery,’ parents of deceased EY employee speak with Rahul Gandhi

Kochi: The parents of Anna Sebastian, the 26-year-old EY employee from Pune who tragically died, reportedly due to “work-related stress,” voiced their concerns to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. During their conversation on Saturday, Anna's mother shared her grief, highlighting that Anna had little time for her personal life.

During a video call organised by Praveen Chakravarty, Chairman of the All India Professionals' Congress, Rahul Gandhi spoke to Anna's parents and promised to turn this tragedy into a catalyst for change. Taking to his social media handle, Rahul Gandhi said, "I spoke with the heartbroken parents of Anna Sebastian, a bright and ambitious young professional whose life was tragically cut short by toxic and unforgiving work conditions."

"In the face of unimaginable grief, Anna's mother has shown remarkable courage and selflessness, turning her personal loss into a powerful plea for safer and fairer workplaces for all," said the post by Rahul Gandhi.

"I have promised Anna's family my personal commitment, along with the full support of the Congress party, to ensure that this tragedy becomes a catalyst for change," said Rahul Gandhi.

He also shared a video clip of their conversation, where Anna's mother discussed her daughter's struggles. In the video clip, Anna's mother, while speaking to Rahul Gandhi, said, "She was always saying that they had very long working hours. They had to work continuously, night Saturday and Sunday. Children were made to work like that, mainly the young employees, the new ones. She didn't even have time for her personal things."

"Anna called me every day at night and used to say I can't speak, I am dead tired. She used to just drop on the bed after returning from the office. She used to be so exhausted," said Anna's mother.

"Rahul ji, what I have to say is that only in India children are subjected to such torture. If it's outside India, will they ask their employees to work like this? They say that we received freedom in 1947, but our children are still working like slaves. Why are children who study so hard to reach where they are being put through so much slavery?" questioned Anna's mother while breaking into tears.

Anna's father, Sibi Joseph, asked Rahul Gandhi to raise the issue in Parliament. In response, Rahul announced plans to launch an awareness movement in Anna's memory aimed at improving conditions for working professionals in India.

The All India Professionals Congress will soon introduce a helpline to gather information from corporate employees about work stress and toxic workplace cultures.

According to an official statement, "Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke to the parents of Anna Sebastian today via a video call arranged by the Chairman of All India Professionals' Congress Praveen Chakravarty during his visit to their home in Kochi."

"Rahul Gandhi offered his sympathies at Anna's sudden and tragic demise. Further, he lauded the family's courage and selflessness to speak up at this extremely difficult moment about this issue in the larger interest of improving working conditions for the millions of professionals in India," said the statement.

"Rahul Gandhi assured them that he would personally fight for this cause in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition. He instructed the AIPC Chairman to create an awareness movement in Anna's memory for all working professionals in India," said the official statement.

"Following Gandhi's instructions, AIPC will announce a helpline soon to collect information from corporate professionals about issues related to work stress and toxic work culture. Post this, AIPC will seek to come up with draft guidelines for better working conditions for professionals in the corporate sector," it added.

Meanwhile, Anna Sebastian Perayil's father, Sibi Joseph, said he has been assured by MP Suresh Gopi that the matter would be raised in Parliament.

"She used to cry on the phone that she could not work with so much tension and stress. We asked her to resign and come back... She decided to continue because she said that she was getting more exposure in EY. Unfortunately, on July 21, she collapsed in her room and died before reaching the hospital... Union Minister Suresh Gopi visited us today and said that he will raise the issue in the Parliament," he said.

Anna, a chartered accountant from Kerala, had only worked at EY for four months before her death on July 20. The company expressed deep sorrow over her passing and stated they are assisting the family. This follows a viral letter from Anna's mother, which claimed that EY's demanding work environment contributed to her daughter's death.

EY stated, "We are taking the family's correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. 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 firm assured that it has provided assistance to the family and will continue to do so.

The incident has ignited a national discussion on work-life balance, mental health, and corporate responsibility, with mental health experts urging employers to treat workers as human beings, not machines.

Agency