Anna Sebastian Perayil – 26 year old woman lost her life due to work stress, Read her mother’s letter
Anna Sebastian Perayil: In a tragic incident, 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil, a Chartered Accountant from Kerala, passed away just four months after joining Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune. Her family has attributed her untimely death to work-related stress, sparking public criticism of the company’s work culture. Read her mother’s letter given below.
Anna Perayil, who passed her CA exams in 2023, began her first job as an executive at EY Pune in March 2024. Eager to excel in her new role, she soon found the pressures of the job taking a serious toll on her health. Her mother, Anita Augustine, revealed that almost immediately after starting, Anna began struggling with anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress. Despite these warning signs, Anna pushed herself, believing hard work was the key to success. Augustine said that Anna was frequently overloaded with work, and her boss often rescheduled meetings or assigned tasks late in the day, increasing her stress. At one office party, a senior leader even joked about the difficulty of working under Anna’s manager—a remark that soon reflected Anna’s reality.
Augustine recounted how Anna worked long hours, often late into the night and even on weekends. Tight deadlines became the norm, with work sometimes assigned late at night. When Anna raised concerns, she was told, “You can work at night; that’s what we all do.” Her family noticed her health rapidly declining. Augustine described how Anna would come home exhausted, sometimes collapsing in bed without changing, only to wake up to more work. Despite her best efforts to meet deadlines, the relentless pressure began to overwhelm her.
Before her passing on July 20, Anna had experienced chest tightness and consulted a cardiologist, who attributed her symptoms to lack of sleep and late-night meals. Though her ECG results were normal, the episode underscored the strain she was under.
In a poignant email to Rajiv Memani, head of EY India, Augustine condemned the firm’s work culture, accusing it of “glorifying overwork.” She highlighted the disparity between the company’s stated human rights values and the reality her daughter endured. Augustine emphasized that as a newcomer to the organization, the city, and the language, Anna was overwhelmed by the constant demands and lacked the experience or confidence to set boundaries.
