A 25-year-old engineer at Ola Krutrim, Nikhil Somwanshi, recently died by suicide in Bengaluru, raising serious concerns about toxic work culture in the tech industry.
A Reddit post, allegedly written by a colleague, claimed that Nikhil was under extreme work pressure and was left handling a full project alone after two teammates quit. Despite being a fresher, he was burdened with the workload of three people.
The post described a deeply abusive environment, where employees, especially freshers, were routinely humiliated during meetings. It painted a picture of a toxic workplace ruled by fear, mismanagement, and silence.
What’s more disturbing is that, according to the post, there has been no internal reflection or change even after the tragedy.
Another former employee verified the claims, saying verbal abuse was common and traumatic. They also alleged that employees were explicitly told not to speak to the media or police and to redirect any queries to the company’s legal team.
Ola Krutrim issued a vague and cold response, even getting the engineer’s name wrong in their official statement. They insisted that he was on personal leave at the time of his death and expressed condolences, but there was no comment on the allegations made online or any acknowledgement of the workplace issues.
For a company aiming to lead in artificial intelligence, ignoring the human cost of its operations is both ironic and cruel. The lack of accountability, the alleged silencing of employees, and the absence of reform reflect an industry where productivity is valued more than people.
If this culture persists, more lives may be lost while companies continue to look the other way.
