A 40-year-old woman died after receiving a severe electric shock from a metal wire used to dry clothes at her home in Kakade Colony, Theur, in Pune district, on Saturday afternoon, according to a report by Lokmat – Pune. The incident has brought renewed attention to electrical safety in the area, where residents have also raised concerns about suspected unauthorised power connections.
The deceased was identified as Seema Vikas Narute, a resident of Theur. She had gone to the rear courtyard of her house to hang washed clothes when she came into contact with the metal wire fixed to the compound for drying them. A preliminary assessment suggested that electricity had travelled through the wire.
According to the report, a short circuit may have occurred in the metal box of a borewell starter located in a nearby plotted development. The resulting current may have reached the compound and then passed through the clothesline. The exact cause has not yet been established and is being examined by the police, Mahavitaran and electrical inspectors.
Narute’s son reportedly returned home from school at around noon and found her lying on the ground. He raised an alarm, after which neighbours reached the spot. Residents were reportedly unable to immediately touch her because they could still feel an electric current. Mahavitaran employees were informed and disconnected the power supply before the police arranged an ambulance.
Narute was taken to a private hospital in Loni Kalbhor, but doctors declared her dead before treatment. Police personnel from Theur outpost and Loni Kalbhor police station visited the location and inspected the scene. Assistant Police Inspector Arun Jadhav is conducting the investigation, according to the report.
Mahavitaran’s Uruli Kanchan division reportedly said that an electricity meter had been installed for a borewell behind the house. Deputy Engineer Dhadve said preliminary information indicated that a wire connected to the meter may have been damaged after rubbing against another surface and may have become cut. This could have allowed current to pass into the clothes-drying wire, but the report does not establish this as the final finding.
The utility has informed local police and electrical inspectors, and a detailed investigation report is expected. Residents have also alleged that the borewell may have been supplied through an unauthorised connection, including a possible hook connection to an electricity line. These allegations have not been independently established in the supplied report.
Maruti Kamble, president of the Haveli taluka unit of the Republican Party of India, demanded an investigation and action against those responsible. He warned of protests if a case of culpable homicide was not registered against the person responsible for any unauthorised electricity connection.
The incident follows the reported electrocution death of a contract wireman in the Theur area a few days earlier. Residents have linked that case to alleged unauthorised connections between transformers, but those claims also remain subject to investigation. Police and electrical authorities are expected to establish the cause of both incidents and identify any responsibility through their inquiries.
