HCL Technologies employee dies of cardiac arrest in Maharashtra’s Nagpur office washroom

Sudden cardiac arrest cases have become a leading cause of mortality in India, claiming thousands of lives every year. A 40-year-old employee at HCL Technologies passed away on Friday due to cardiac arrest in the washroomof the company’s office in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, police said on Sunday.

Nagpur Police said the deceased—identified as Nitin Edwin Michael, a senior analyst at HCL Technologies— was found unresponsive around 7 PM after entering the washroom in the Mihan area of the office.

Michael was immediately rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Nagpur, where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival, the police added.

The police said the body was sent for a postmortem examination and initial autopsy results suggested that the cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Michael is survived by his wife and a six-year-old son.

The police said they have registered a case of accidental death and are conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the demise of the HCL employee.

“This is an unfortunate incident and a tragic loss. We extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased employee and are providing all possible assistance to them. In this incident, the employee was provided emergency support at the campus healthcare clinic and rushed to the hospital. The wellbeing of our people is of utmost priority and HCLTech provides healthcare programs for its all employees and their families, including on-campus clinics and annual preventive health checks,” HCL Technologies spokesperson said in a statement.

Sudden cardiac arrest cases have become a leading cause of mortality in India, claiming thousands of lives each year. With a significant increase in incidents among individuals under the age of 40, this alarming trend highlights the urgent need for proactive measures to address cardiac emergencies.

Earlier on September 18, a Chartered Accountant from Kerala, died nearly four months after joining her first job at a firm in Pune. She was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted after being overburdened with excessive workload, alleges her mother.

In a letter, deceased CAAnna SebastianPerayil's mother, Anita Augustine, shared her daughter's experience at the firm. She wrote that her daughter was a brilliant student who always stood first in college and school examinations. However, Anna started experiencing “anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress soon after joining the company,” the letter read.

Augustine explained how she witnessed her daughter suffering from the extreme workload and how she sincerely tried to match the unreasonable expectations of her seniors.

In July, another IT professional, a 36-year-old, committed suicide by jumping into the riverbed in Bopodi, Pune, after being consistently harassed and humiliated by his manager. The deceased, identified as Vishal Pramod Salvi, was recently fired from work, cited the manager's constant threats and public humiliation as the reason for his drastic step, in a note.