Navi Mumbai: Babita Singh, a scientific officer at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), went missing on Monday afternoon after sending an email to her brother Vikas Singh in Uttar Pradesh. Ms. Singh (28) mentioned about her work pressure and mental harassment that she faced from her reporting officer.
The excerpts of the mail said, “It has been almost five years since I started my journey in BARC. I came with lot of passion and enthusiasm for science. I wanted to be a scientist since my childhood but that dream will end up like this I never imagined. The day I joined LLRSS my life became hell from the very first day. Initially I thought that the things will turn better one day but that were just imaginations. Every day was a new torture day for me. I was humiliated and insulted on all the possible occasions.” She concluded, “I am very sorry to my family and my friends whom I am leaving behind without giving them any answers. I am really very sorry. Instead of dying every day slowly I would rather like to die in one shot.”
Mr. Singh said, “After receiving the mail, I contacted her office wherein they said that she had left the office at around 1 p.m. When I enquired the reason behind leaving the office early they said they were not aware. Her email clearly states that she was being mentally tortured at her workplace and due to the frustration, she left. We hope she is safe wherever she is and she returns soon.” He has also taken to social media to get help.
According to the police, Ms. Singh, who stayed at Dwarkanath CHS at Sector 20 in Nerul, came home on Monday afternoon, dumped everything she carried that belonged to BARC, took her purse, and left after giving the keys to the landlord. “At BARC, they are not allowed to take mobile phones and the police found her phone at her residence,” said Mr. Singh. Her fiancé Deepak Singh, who reached Navi Mumbai on Monday night, filed a missing complaint with the Nerul police.
“We reached Navi Mumbai on Wednesday morning and went to BARC. We made an attempt to meet officials of her department — Radiation Biology and Health Science Division — but none of them met us. Nobody was ready to speak or give us any information. The police said they are investigating, but we don’t see any lead from their end. She earned a salary close to ₹1 lakh and was in a good position, but she was harassed at her workplace,” said her uncle Vinod Singh.
Senior police inspector Ashok Rajput said, “Since her phone was at her flat, we have not been able to trace her location. The society’s CCTV footage shows she is going out of the society, but there are no leads on which direction she went.”
Meanwhile, attempts to contact officials at BARC went futile.
