A user recently took to social media that he had a conversation with Nikhil Somwanshi, the deceased 25-year-old techie who died by suicide, almost 8 days before his death. The user, claiming to be Somwanshi’s friend, said that the latter told him around 5 times not to come to Bangalore to pursue an MBA.
His post came after a Reddit post brought to light serious concerns about the work environment at AI firm Krutrim following the death of Nikhil Somwanshi, a 25-year-old machine learning engineer.
“A few days ago, my friend Nikhil Somvanshi committed suicide at banglore due to intense work load and verbal abuse by manager. Nikhil was my villager and we used to play cricket together since childhood. We had spoken on the phone 8 days before he committed suicide. I was asking him about my educational loan because he had taken it. And Nikhil had told me 5 times that don’t come to Bangalore to do MBA, go to Mumbai instead,” the user wrote in his post.
He added that it was clear from his words that he was overloaded with work. The user further went on to claim that Somwanshi took the extreme step due to alleged overwork and toxicity at his organisation.
“Employees in the company have been prohibited to talk about this issue openly with anybody else. Not only this, many employees have already resigned due to toxic and political culture at a workplace,” he wrote. The Redditor lamented that his friend Nikhil could have achieved something extraordinary in the next 10 years.
“But not now, Nikhil was much more intelligent and talented, he would have achieved something extraordinary in the next ten years. If bright kids like Nikhil fall prey to toxicity, it will cause a huge loss to society and the country.”
Somwanshi, who was found dead in Bengaluru, was reportedly managing excessive workloads after colleagues left the project. His manager was criticised for having “no real clue how to manage people,” being verbally abusive during meetings, and causing a “traumatic” experience, particularly for freshers.
Krutrim confirmed that Somwanshi was on personal leave at the time of the incident.
The company told Business Today TV: “Nikhil was on personal leave at the time of the incident. He had reached out to his manager on the 8th of April, expressing that he needed rest, and was promptly granted personal time off. Later, on the 17th of April, he shared that he was feeling better but would benefit from additional rest, and his leave was extended accordingly.”
“As a company, we are heartbroken by this loss. Nikhil was a valued team member, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and worked with him,” the company further said.
The company expressed deep sorrow over the incident: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of one of our most talented young employees, Nikhil (Somwanshi), on the 8th of May. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with his family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”
As per his LinkedIn profile, Somwanshi developed the Saathi chatbot for his master’s thesis, funded by the Melinda Gates Foundation. His contributions have been significant in simplifying access to government schemes, supporting regional dialects, and addressing user queries.