BENGALURU: A senior scientist, attached to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), ended his life by jumping from the fourth floor of an apartment at Seegehalli on October 21. His family alleged that he was suffering from severe work-related stress and depression for over a month.
The deceased, Sharad Katiyar (47), was a Grade F senior scientist working in the programming division of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) of DRDO. He was staying with his family at the apartment in KR Puram.
Katiyar allegedly jumped from the staircase on the fourth floor of the apartment around 7.30 pm on October 21 and sustained severe injuries. His family members and neighbours rushed him to a nearby private hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries, the police said.
The police said his family alleged that he was suffering from severe work-related stress and depression for over a month and was undergoing medical treatment and counselling.
‘Early to blame scientist’s death solely to work pressure’
On the day of the incident, Katiyar had visited the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) for his counselling session. The exact reason for his extreme step is yet to be ascertained.
The KR Puram police have registered an Unnatural Death Report (UDR) and will conduct a probe.
Krishna Rajendra, Director, Administration and Human Resources at ADA, said, “It is most unfortunate that we have lost a young scientist with such great experience. It is a huge loss to both his family members and the organisation.”
On allegations by Katiyar’s family that work-related stress may have contributed to his death, he said, “I don’t think work pressure was the reason. We have been speaking to his close colleagues and learnt that he had been suffering from schizophrenia for the past month and had been undergoing treatment. I do not agree that work pressure alone was responsible for him taking this extreme step. There may have been other health-related factors.”
Rajendra said workload is part of working in any organisation, but maintained that it is premature to attribute the scientist’s death solely to work pressure. He said the organisation had conducted several programmes over the past year to address mental stress and promote mental wellbeing among its employees.
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