"Victim Of System": GST Official's Wife Blames Work Pressure For Suicide

Amid a nationwide debate on work-life balance, the wife of a GST official, who jumped to death from his Noida flat yesterday, has said he was under work pressure and that he was a "victim of the system". Earlier, police had said Sanjay Singh, 59, had been fighting cancer for the past five years and the harrowing struggle had led to depression. The cops had said that the family had told them that the cancer fight may have pushed him to the edge.

Mrs Singh has trashed these claims in an interaction with the media and said that Sanjay Singh was a "survivor" and that his cancer was "not life-threatening". "He got my father-in-law and my sister-in-law treated. His cancer was not life-threatening, never. He was under a lot of pressure at work. Maybe his department colleagues would know better," she said.

Sanjay Singh, 59, was a deputy commissioner in the GST department in Ghaziabad. He jumped to death from his 14th-floor flat at Apex Athena, a residential complex in Noida's Sector 75, around 11 am yesterday. He is survived by his wife and two sons. His elder son works in Gurugram and the younger son is a dentistry student at Sharda University.

"We did not fear anything like this. This is not normal. He became a victim of the system. If anyone can answer these questions, they can speak to me," she said.

Mrs Singh also rubbished reports that said her husband's prostrate cancer had advanced to the last stage. "May God forgive them. I cannot silence everyone. My husband was not a fourth-stage cancer patient and I have proof of this. Whatever has happened, the system is responsible. This must be investigated," she said.

According to reports, Sanjay Singh was posted at the GST office in Ghaziabad's Rajendra Nagar and had been handling Supreme Court cases.

An organisation representing tax officials in Uttar Pradesh has called upon its members to wear black bands to protest Sanjay Singh's

death. In a statement, the UP Rajya Kar Adhikari Seva Sangh has accused the administration of "highhandedness" and alleged that employees were being asked to work on off days and finish time-barred cases before deadlines. The employees' union has also alleged threats of termination. "There is disappointment among officials as they fear mistakes due to work pressure," it said. The organisation said it would stage a mass casual leave protest after Holi.