27-year-old Indian-origin auditor at Ernst and Young Aishwarya Venkatachalam died by falling from the 11th floor of her workplace building in Sydney’s CBD on August 27.
The tragic incident happened after when reportedly she had been kicked out of a work function and needed her house key from her office to go home – and told some kind, women, that building security would not let her in to get it.
Ms Aishwarya’s long-time friend Neeti Bisht told Daily Mail Australia she was dealing with bullying and racism at work.
“I think things had just started to brew then… Her colleagues and the racist angle was at play,”
Ms Bisht said.
An Ernst & Young spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that the company ‘has a zero-tolerance response to bullying, harassment and racism, and we take any allegations that relate to these issues very seriously.
She added:
‘The review we launched last week following this tragedy is ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further until it is complete. We are continuing to offer all our people counselling and support.’
We (The Australia Today) are absolutely not suggesting Ernst & Young, which is now known as EY, or Aishwarya’s co-workers, were in any way responsible for her death.
Aishwarya’s uncle, who lives in Canada, told Daily Mail Australia that the whole family is struggling to come to terms with her death.
He said:
‘She was very educated, beautiful and brilliant. She was a very good lady, she was brought up very well. I do not know how this could happen. Her mother and father are very caring and kind. They were supporting her, and she was supporting of them.’
In 2015, Aishwarya graduated from Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune, and in 2019, she joined Grant Thornton LLP in Bengaluru as a senior auditor. In November 2021, she moved to Australia to join EY as a Senior Auditor and was thriving in her new role.
Aishwarya got married to Nakul in Chennai last year in January. Her close friend Neeti Bisht, who was a bridesmaid at her wedding, told Daily Mail Australia that she recently complained about ‘racism’ in Australia and ‘mean colleagues’. Neeti said
‘She was a happy soul and was finding her feet in Australia … She mentioned how mean some of her colleagues were.’
It is reported that At 8 pm Aishwarya spoke on the phone to her husband, Nakul, in Singapore before he got on a flight back to Sydney after a work trip.
Further, three women told the Daily Mail Australia that they found Aishwarya ‘crying her eyes out’ in a nearby car park about 30 minutes before the fall.
These women said when we tried to help Aishwarya, she initially flinched from us, saying ‘all white people are racist’ and cowering in a corner.
But we told her: ‘We are three women here to support you and be here for you and get you home safely. Tell us what’s going on…
‘She just kept repeating herself…. and how she got kicked out of her work function.
‘She said that over 10 times whilst crying her eyes out. She was having a panic attack and had been drinking but wasn’t completely drunk.
‘Once we calmed her down, she said she needed to get into her work office at EY as she forgot her house key and they wouldn’t let her up [but] she had her swipe tag.’
Helping women added: ‘She didn’t have anybody. I saw that she was wearing a wedding ring so I asked about her partner and she said he’s in Singapore and getting a flight back.
‘I asked if anyone else had a spare key to her home or if we can drop her somewhere safe or call her a cab – I even offered to pay for a cab if she didn’t have money.’
She said at that point another woman and two men appeared who offered to drop her off at the EY building to get her key.
‘I think they made a welfare call out to the police but it was too late,’ said one of the women.
It is also being reported that she allegedly fell in a ‘drunk and distraught’ state after returning to the office following a work function at the nearby Ivy nightclub.
NSW Police spokesman told media that a report continues to be prepared for the coroner. They were unable to comment on when Aishwarya’s body will be repatriated to India.
