Woman doctor dies by electrocution while charging laptop at Chennai hostel

CHENNAI: A 32-year-old doctor undergoing training at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Kilpauk was allegedly electrocuted in her hostel room in Chennai on Sunday morning when she tried to plug her laptop charger onto an extension box. Police said that there were burn injuries on her hand resembling electric shock injuries.

The deceased was identified as Dr Saranitha, a native of Namakkal district. Her husband, Dr Udayakumar, works in Coimbatore. The couple have a five-year-old child, police said.

After finishing her post-graduation, Saranitha joined the IMH and the Government Children's hospital in Egmore for training. Since the training was only for a month, she was staying at a working women’s hostel on KH Road in Ayanavaram, police said.

On Sunday morning, her husband made several calls to her phone and as she was not reachable, he alerted the management who sent a staff member to go to Saranitha’s room. She was found unconscious after which police were alerted. They moved her to a hospital where she was declared dead. Ayanavaram Police moved her body to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) for post-mortem examination.

Police investigation revealed that Saranitha retired to her room around 10 am after breakfast. When the staff member came to check on her, she was found lying unconscious with the charging cable for her laptop by her side, police said.

"She was using an extension box in which she had plugged an air cooler, cell phone, and the laptop. The charging cable for her laptop seemed to have been damaged and she could have suffered an electric shock while trying to plug the laptop charger onto the extension box," a police officer said.

Ayanavaram police have registered a case under Section 174 of the Crpc (unnatural death) and are investigating the