CSS officer's fall from Shastri Bhawan linked to workplace harassment

A Central Secretariat Service (CSS) official who fell from the seventh floor of Shastri Bhawan here has allegedly told investigators that the incident was a suicide attempt prompted by prolonged workplace harassment, police said on Thursday.

The victim, identified as Deepak Khoda (33), is posted with the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. However, on Monday, when the incident was reported, the police had said that he slipped while trying to evade a monkey.

In a complaint given to the police on October 1 by Khoda, he alleged that he tried to attempt suicide due to repeatedly being humiliated by senior colleagues over several months, which made him "depressed."  Khoda, who has been working in the ministry for the last nine years, alleged that he has been harassed by senior officers, including the additional secretary and deputy secretary, for the past several months.

He also alleged that they have threatened to ruin his career and also warned him of taking legal action. "This was also known to my family members. On September 29, they scolded me again, which left me really sad, and I started having thoughts of committing suicide. Around 4 pm, I went to the seventh floor of the building and jumped off from there," the complaint read.

According to a senior police officer, he landed on a tempo loaded with water bottles, sustaining injuries to his arm, before colleagues rushed him to RML Hospital. He has urged police to initiate legal proceedings against the senior officials named in his complaint.

Police said that they had said that the fall was a result of a monkey attack based on the officer's own medico-legal certificate (MLC). However, in his police complaint, he mentioned that it was a result of workplace harassment, the officer said and added that the matter will now be probed accordingly.

The Central Secretariat Service Forum has written a letter to Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar and Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, regarding the incident.

"The Central Secretariat Service (CSS) Forum seeks your immediate intervention in the tragic case of Shri Deepak Khoda, Section Officer, S/o Sh Ramswarup Meena, in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, who recently attempted suicide by jumping from the 7th floor of his office building," it read.

"He is presently hospitalised and undergoing treatment. Khoda and his family members have conveyed to the Forum that sustained harassment and undue pressure from senior officers, allegedly Additional Secretary and Deputy Secretary, created a hostile and distressing work environment that drove him to this extreme step," it mentioned.

There was no immediate reaction available from the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment regarding the same.