A 24-year-old mother of two was electrocuted around 2 pm yesterday while reconnecting her refrigerator.
Juliet Mohabir of Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, who would have celebrated her third wedding anniversary today, met her demise after she tried to connect the refrigerator plug while her hands and a part of her clothing were wet.
After receiving the electrical shock she was rushed to the Fort Wellington Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Mohabir’s sister-in-law, Premwattie “Delly” Sookdeo said that the fridge was unplugged to be cleaned and that two hours later Juliet, who was washing dishes decided to go and “plug it in.”
She said that they would normally take off the main switch before reconnecting the fridge but Mohabir did not want to go all the way upstairs to do so.
According to Sookdeo, she tried to stop Juliet from connecting the plug saying, “Girl, wait leh me see wah you doing; you can’t fit in the corner there to do it properly, you too fat Leh me plug it in.”
However, Mohabir insisted that she could handle it and seconds later she fell to the ground. Sookdeo said she also started to scream, “Run Delly, me gon dead, run and cut off the main switch.”
Juliet Mohabir with her husband, Looknauth Sookdeo shortly after they were married three years ago.
Mohabir’s mother-in-law, Kuntie “Zeena” Sookdeo said she was standing on the “landing when me hear them screaming and me run down to see what happen.” Kuntie, who was inconsolable when this newspaper visited, said that her daughter told her to take off the main switch but in the haste and her confused state she almost fell before she finally reached the switch.
Meanwhile, Premwattie said she lifted the injured woman out of the kitchen and started to “rub she up with methylated and limacol.”
She also tried to contact the woman’s husband, Looknauth Sookdeo, who works at Solid Gold Jewellery in the village, but his phone rang out. In tears, the husband told this newspaper that just after 2 pm two of his friends gave him the news that his wife got “shock.”
He hurried home on his bicycle and was hoping that it was nothing serious but when he got there he saw his wife lying on the ground. He immediately hired a bus and rushed her to the hospital.
He said he and his wife were looking forward to celebrating their wedding anniversary today but instead he is preparing for her funeral.
Today her parents, Karramchand and Narda, who reside next door, would have also been celebrating their birthdays but they too would be mourning on their special day.
The young mother is survived by her parents, siblings, husband and her daughter, Reshme who will be two years old tomorrow and her son Ganesh, who will celebrate his first birthday in December.
Premwattie and Kuntie lamented that Juliet was a nice and quiet person and said they got along well. They regretted that she met such a tragic end.
This is such an undeniable wanton loss of life.My condolences go out to the affected family.May God grant you the strength & comfort in this regrettable situation.Condolences
My condolences to Juliet Mohabir’s famiily and friends. It is really a sad day when such a preventable accident happens. If the refrigerators in Guyana are anything like those sold in Canada and the USA, there is no need to unplug them for cleaning. All that is needed is for the temperature (thermostat) control which is usually located in the freezer compartment, to be turned to the lowest setting. This will allow ice to melt while the unit is till plugged in. If, however, the fridge does not have a thermostat, then a simple power control bar plugged into the wall outlet with the fridge then plugged into it, would allow power to the fridge to be cut without having to unplug anything. The power bar comes with a on/off swithch.
SandHurst First, shame on you. I hope that your comment was a spur of the moment thing. That comment is not at all like you. Some time soon I hope to see an apology from you to the bereaved family.
Richard give Sandhurst a break, He already got reamed, and he apologised.
He did’nt have his coffee when he wrote his blog this morning.
Le we just sey He’s a good boy.He made a mistake.
,
No need to unplug/plug the refrigerator, turn it off from inside . So sorry,
These kinds of of accidents, injuries and tragic loss of life, can be significantly reduced and avoided.
it is unfortunate that members of households, are not educated or made aware by GPL or some other agency, of the dangers and the necessary caution which should be exercised, while using electricity, particularly, in a situation where there is so much ‘ blackouts ‘ and unreliable electricity supply from GPL.
This situation is made worse, as Guyanese, are constantly required to plug and unplug, home appliances and other equipments, with little or no communication from GPL or other government department.
Consumers are not helped by the lack of concern and callausness on the part of the authorities.
Condolences go out to this family and all others suffering, as a result of these avoidable and tragic loss of life !
Sooo sad my sympathy to the family
i feel very very sad for this family and the kids for not having there mother around to watch them grow up my sympathy goes out to her husband and the entire family members i am deeply sorry for your lost.
My sympathy to the family. This is so sad. R.I.P
Oh my, my heart goes out this young woman’s family!
The fridge was not earthed or not earthed properly, otherwise any stray current would have been diverted to earth. Who’s to blame?
Dear Mister M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett,
Appliances are not grounded independenly, there are three wires in an appliance linecord; one Live, next neutral and the center is ground. The appliance is grounded when the unit is plugged into the AC outlet and not before.
DEAJ
What laughable thing are you saying Hackett? Read what I wrote.
Very Sad indeed.Such a young life is lost. May you rest in peace. On another note, when turning off a bbq. close the cylinder first so as to drain the lines completely. I think there should be warnngs on the tv towards the safe operations of these devises. Just a suggestion.