‘I Was Left Alone’: PWD Engineer’s Suicide Note Sparks Uproar

A shocking case of alleged workplace harassment has come to light in Assam’s Bongaigaon district after a young woman engineer, Joshita Das, died by suicide in her rented house at Barpara. Das had been working as a Junior Engineer in the Public Works Department (PWD- Housing) for nearly a year.

She was found hanging in her room, and a suicide note recovered from the scene named two senior engineers as being responsible for her death, citing mental harassment and coercion. In the note, she alleged that the officials had relentlessly pressured her to approve a pending contractor’s bill despite procedural irregularities. She further wrote that she felt helpless and mentally distressed.

Joshita mentioned that she had been assigned the project titled “MIN Stadium at Borsojgaon under Gossaigaon LAC”, with the consultant being M/s Achetic Creations. She stated that essential drawings and related documents for the project were never provided to her. She also noted that the contractor had no site engineer, leaving her solely responsible for all on-site decisions.

In her note, she wrote that architect Debajit Sarma had presented her with an incomplete and unreliable estimate, which contained major discrepancies and variations. She expressed that she was forced to handle the large project entirely on her own, without any assistance, despite repeatedly asking for help. Her superiors, then SDO Aminul Islam and Executive Engineer Dinesh Sharma Medhi, allegedly ignored her concerns and continued to push her to carry out the project single-handedly.

The two accused, the victim's former superiors, Executive Engineer Dinesh Sharma Medhi and former SDO Aminul Islam, had both been transferred from their posts recently. Despite this, they allegedly continued to pressure Joshita to clear the bill of a contractor identified as Rudra Pathak.

Following her death, the victim’s mother lodged an FIR at the Bongaigaon Police Station, accusing the two officials of mentally tormenting her daughter over the bill clearance. “My daughter used to speak about the pressure at work. She was very stressed,” the grieving mother told reporters.

According to the complaint, the officials were allegedly trying to financially benefit from the bill and had been pushing for its approval in violation of due process. Reports confirm that both Dinesh Sharma Medhi and Aminul Islam have since been arrested by Bongaigaon police.

Sources said both officials joined the Bongaigaon PWD division in December 2023. Medhi has been transferred to the Nalbari NH Division and Islam to the Office of the Chief Engineer. However, they allegedly continued to harass the junior engineer even after their transfers.

The suicide note, now in police custody, is expected to be central to the investigation. The victim's death has once again drawn attention to the deep-rooted culture of coercion and corruption within government departments and the mental health toll it takes on young professionals.

Police have sent the body for post-mortem, and a formal investigation is underway.

Also Read: ADC Tridip Konwar Passes Away After Suicide Attempt in Guwahati