A Black Bush Polder (BBP) man died after he was electrocuted on Thursday by an illegal electrical connection attached to his house.
At the time, the man was attempting to disconnect the illegal connection as he had heard that Guyana Power and Light (GPL) workers would be visiting the community throughout the day.
Dead is Shri Maan Somraj also known as ‘Loch’, 63, a farmer, of Lot 111 Yakusari North, BBP, Corentyne.
According to information gathered, the incident took place just around 9.15 am on Thursday.
The man’s wife, Dhanmatie Deonarine also known as ‘Faroza’, 61, explained that sometime last November, she and Somraj returned to Guyana from Trinidad and they observed that the GPL meter that was connected to their home was falling off.
In March, the woman decided to phone GPL and report the matter.
She said workers attached to GPL visited their home and checked on the meter and they claimed that the meter had been tampered with.
The GPL workers reportedly told them that they would be taking away the meter and that she would have to go into GPL to pay a sum of $80,000 to be reconnected to the grid.
Somraj decided against this and opted for an illegal connection from a utility pole next to his house.
Stabroek News was told that the man would normally connect and disconnect the wire in the morning and afternoon.
On Thursday, Somraj told his wife that he would be disconnecting the illegal connection that was attached to their home because he had heard GPL staff would be in the area that day.
The woman said that she left him at home and went to purchase a water pump at Bengal Farm, Corentyne. While on her way home around 2 pm, she received a phone call informing her that Somraj had been found lying on his back motionless in front of their yard.
Somraj’s body was examined, both hands were holding a wire on his chest, which was connected to his home and leading to a GPL utility pole. Burn marks were also noticed on his chest and abdomen.
He was taken to the Mibicuri Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His body was then transported to the Ramoo Funeral Home for a post-mortem examination.
