An employee working in Bengaluru died by suicide earlier this month alleging “Caste discrimination at the workplace”.
Vivek Raj, 35, was working with Lifestyle International Private Limited, Bengaluru, he was originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaptanganj Basti.
Before committing suicide, Raj had reportedly filed a police complaint against three of his colleagues and even released a video on YouTube. In this video, Raj said he was being “harassed” by a few colleagues and was also made to “suffer” for raising certain issues at work.
According to The Indian Express, In a statement, Life Style International Pvt Ltd said, “We are deeply saddened to hear the demise of our former employee. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family during this most difficult time.”
“Vivek had raised a complaint through our internal process, and a thorough internal investigation was conducted in accordance with company policies, outcomes were shared with him, and the appropriate actions were taken. As this matter is sub-judice and being investigated by the police, we carefully operating with their investigation”, the company added.
According to reports before the suicide Vivek Raj said: “For what I am going to do, I am sorry and proud as well. Fighting the system might be government, might it be private, there is a difficulty. Coming from a particular background, fighting the battle from childhood. By studying hard, and working hard, you change, evolve, and get better as a human being. You will try to be kind to the world but the world won’t be kind to you.”
“They see their own ways of selfishness. There are two ways to grow. Work hard and grow, put someone down and grow. Most people believe in the second thing, hard work is not everyone’s cup of tea. I have had my journey, had my rights, and have raised my issue. Thank you Life Style International Private Limited and thank you LandMark group”, he added in the video
“Thanks to my entire team. The entire system in the world of the corporate is honestly faux is what I would say. To bring a change someone needs to do something. And as Bhagat Singh has said, if the deaf has to hear, the sound has to be loud. I tried making that sound, but, yeah, the system is corrupt. The people with money will harass you and keep harassing you. When you try to address the issue legally, they would get the best of the lawyers. They are ready to throw the money to hide the harassment, not addressing the issue whatever it may be”, he added.
Recently, an online campaign “#JusticeForVivekRaj” has also started seeking answers from his employer and the authorities.
I urge u all to look into this.#justiceforvivekraj
— Devesh Pant (@_DeveshPant) June 12, 2023
@PTI_News @TOIBengaluru @MCA21India @WIONews @publictvnews @OneNightfall @IndianExpress @the_hindu @timesofindia @BrutIndia @DeccanHerald @dna @PIBBengaluru @tv9kannada @prajavani @ETVNews_Kannada https://t.co/Dz4ayvXSeU
