Trainee scientist was under pressure from company: father tells police

Bhavesh Jaiswal, the 23-year-old trainee scientist who jumped to death from the 12th floor of his ITPL office, was working under the threat of being sacked, his father Mahendra Jaiswal said.

The Whitefield police have slapped charges under IPC Section 306 (abetment of suicide) on unknown person/s of Mu Sigma directly or indirectly responsible for Bhavesh's suicide.

The police said Jaiswal was drawing a beginner's salary of Rs 25,000 and could have resigned, but for clauses in his contract that obliged him to return a hefty sum to the company if he quit before the contract period. He had only completed about a year of his three-year contract.

A police officer said they have sought his job contract to study the obligatory clauses. Though Bhavesh had told his father about the harassment he endured at office, Mahendra — who knew very little about his son's job profile — did not fully comprehend the gravity of the issue and assumed that his son would come to terms with his job.

Mahendra had come to meet the police on Tuesday to claim his son's body, following which he lodged a complaint against the company staff.

"We are awaiting FSL reports of his mobile phone and laptop, after which we should be able to identify the staff/s who harassed him," Abdul Ahad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Whitefield Division, told DH.

A trainee scientist at Mu Sigma in Ascendas SEZ in ITPL area, Bhavesh jumped to his death from the 12th floor of his office in Whitefield on Monday at 5 pm after the employees had left for the day. He had left his mobile phone near his laptop at the workstation.