A suicidal case committed by a specialized electricity mechanism: a case report

Normal 0 21 false false false TR X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Normal Tablo; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} Abstract Deaths due to electric current can be seen particularly in the adult population due not only to accidents but also due to suicides as well. We present here an electrician who used an alarm clock together with an electrical wiring and committed suicide by a special timing mechanism in his home environment. We aimed to evaluate the medicolegal features of suicide via electrical current in this report. Our case was a forty years-old male electrician who had been receiving anti-depressive therapy. He had two children and his wife had left him with the children two months ago. She had started divorce proceedings showing incompatibility between the couples as the reason. He had peeled the plastic outer cover of a copper cord and wrapped the one end of the cord into a clock devoid of plastical portions and the other end to electric socket. The copper cord between these connections was wrapped around his neck and left ankle. He was found in his bed in a lying position with a clock set to four o'clock, empty drug bottles and suicide letters beside him. External examination revealed skin lesions due to electric current while internal examination revealed nonspecific changes. In this case report, we discussed the medicolegal issues of planned suicidal deaths due to individually set-up mechanisms of electricity giving a special impact to its forensic characteristics. Keywords: Electrical injury, suicide, crime scene investigation, autopsy, forensic sciences. Ozet Elektrik akimina bagli olumler, ozellikle yetiskinlerde kazalarin disinda intihar seklinde de gorulmektedir. Bu calismada; ozel duzenekli elektrik akimina bagli intiharlarin medikolegal ozellikleri acisindan irdelenmesi amaclandi. Olgumuz kendi ev ortaminda elektrik tesisatindan zaman ayarli ozel duzenek kurarak intihar eden 40 yasinda, depresyon tedavisi goren elektrik teknisyeni iki cocuklu bir erkektir. Esi gecimsizlik nedeniyle bosanma davasi acmis olup, yaklasik iki ay once cocuklarini alarak evi terk etmistir. Sol ayak bilegi ve boynu cepecevre saran, plastik dis yuzeyi soyulmus bakir kablonun bir ucunu da plastik aksanini cikarttigi calar saatin icine monte ederek saati dorde kurup yatagina yatmis oldugu ve intihar mektuplari ile yataginin yaninda bos ilac kutularinin bulundugu tespit edilmistir. Dis muayenede; elektrik yanigina ait lezyonlar, ic muayenede ise spesifik olmayan degisiklikler gorulmustur. Bu olgu sunumunda, ozel duzenek kurarak elektrik akimi ile yapilan intihar olgularinin adli-tibbi ozellikleri irdelenerek tartisilmistir. Anahtar sozcukler: Elektrik yaralanmasi, intihar, olay yeri incelemesi, otopsi, adli bilimler.