Air India hostess commits suicide, parents blame hectic work schedule

Chennai: A 32-year-old airhostess killed herself at her home at the Air India quarters in Meenambakkam on Sunday evening. According to the police, no suicide note was found, but her parents alleged that long hours and hectic work schedules led to the suicide.

The deceased, Manpreet Pal (32) had been working as an airhostess with Air India since 2007 and had met and married her co-worker, Anup Nair (35) in 2012. Mr Nair works as a technician with Air India and the couple have a two-year old daughter. Manpreet’s parents live close by in Teacher’s Colony which is where the couple would leave their child every day when they went off to work. It was when Mr Nair returned home with their daughter house that he found Manpreet hanging in their bedroom.

Mr Nair had left for work at 2 pm and left his daughter at his in-laws’ house while his wife was going to report at 4.15 pm and board the Chennai to Muscat flight. When he returned home at 10 pm, he found that the front door was ajar. Surprised, he looked for his wife and found the bedroom door locked, he then called up her office to find out if she had left early. Air India officials informed him that Manpreet had never turned up for duty and she had been marked absent. He then broke open the door and found Manpreet hanging in the bedroom.

Manpreet’s parents said there was no personal dispute between the couple that could have led to the suicide as they were very happy together. “We are Punjabi and our son-in laws family hails from Kerala but we did not have any problem accepting their relationship. In their three years of marriage there was not a single fight that they had,” said Guru Pal Singh.

He said his daughter would regularly complain about her hectic work schedule but didn’t have the option of quitting as the family needed two incomes. “She would cry out of stress as she had continuous shifts and never got to rest enough between her shifts,” added her father.

Manpreet’s body has been sent to Chromepet government hospital for autopsy. The Meenambakkam police has registered a case.