TURA, July 10: Sheer negligence in maintaining power lines flowing with electricity by a private company in the Garo Hills has led to the death of a villager while a pregnant woman is battling for her life in a critical condition after both got electrocuted in the Purakhasia border region of West Garo Hills on Sunday afternoon.

The incident reportedly took place in the village of Chengrapara in Purakhasia region under Dalu civil sub-division at approximately 11:30 Sunday morning.

Thirty year old Bryan Donseng M Marak and Smt Epsil N Marak were charging their mobile phones in their respective houses and had apparently touched the devices when they were suddenly electrocuted.

Thunder and lightning are said to have occurred in the area around the same time.

While Bryan died from electrocution, Epsil N Marak, who happened to be eight months pregnant, lost consciousness and fell to the floor from the sudden surge in electricity.

She has been rushed to Tura for medical treatment and remains critical.

Later in the afternoon, a check of the electrical lines reportedly found two separate transmission lines had collided with one another leading to the power surge and fatality.

Villagers have blamed the private power company SAI for the tragedy and accuse it of failing to maintain the transmission lines. The power company was given the contract for power supply and billing by the state government across a vast region in the rural areas of Garo Hills.

Unlike the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region, Garo Hills has one of the highest electrocution deaths in the state for decades. Every year, innocent civilians, particularly villagers, lose their lives after unknowingly stepping on live wires left unattended on the ground, or coming in contact with low-lying power lines crisscrossing the roads.

The road from Rongram towards Dadenggre in West Garo Hills, and the Dalu to Baghmara route, particularly the stretch of the Angratuli reserve forest, are glaring examples of low lying transmission lines precariously dangling overhead, waiting for their next victims.

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