A 65-year-old man died tragically after he spat gutkha from his third-floor balcony, and the spit hit an 11kV live wire. The electric current travelled through his saliva stream and killed him on the spot. Angry locals are now blaming the electricity department for their sheer negligence.
Chewing too much gutkha or tobacco ruins your health, but sometimes it can literally cost you your life. A shocking tragedy from Madhya Pradesh just proved this right.
A 65-year-old man stepped out on his third-floor balcony to spit gutkha. He ended up getting a massive shock from an 11,000-volt (11kV) high-tension wire and died right there. This horrific incident took place in Ganjbasoda of Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh. The victim was Prabhulal Gupta. He was 65 years old and worked as a mason. He originally belonged to Chhatarpur but was living in a rented house in Gayatri Nagar of Ganjbasoda for the last 10 years.
How did the incident happen?
Prabhulal Gupta was standing on his third-floor balcony around 1 PM on Friday. He leaned out to spit the gutkha from his mouth. Eyewitnesses said an 11kV high-tension wire was passing extremely close to the balcony. His saliva stream directly hit this live wire. The electric current instantly travelled up the saliva stream and hit his body. Prabhulal caught fire in a split second and breathed his last on the spot.
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How did current travel through spit? Experts explain
You might wonder how someone can get an electric shock and die just by spitting gutkha. Electrical experts have a clear scientific reason for this. Human saliva contains moisture along with salts and electrolytes. This mixture works as a very good conductor of electricity. When the continuous stream of spit touched the live wire, it created a direct path for the current to flow back to the person.
Experts also pointed out the electrical arc effect. High-tension wires like 11kV are extremely powerful. If any conductor or moisture comes close to them, the electricity can literally jump through the air. Since the balcony was dangerously close to the wire, this electrical arcing passed straight through the man's body and caused this fatal disaster.
Public angry at electricity department
Local residents expressed massive anger right after this tragedy. They accused the electricity department of ignoring their repeated complaints. People had asked the officials dozens of times to shift the 11kV wires passing dangerously close to their homes, but nobody took action.
House owner Padma Chidar broke down in tears while speaking about the incident. She said, 'The electric poles and wires in our layout are in a very dangerous condition. We requested the officials multiple times to remove the high-tension line located right next to our houses. The officials promised to shift it but completely ignored it later. The sheer irresponsibility of the department caused this death.'
