PERAMBALUR: Two farmers, including a woman, died of electrocution after they inadvertently touched an electric fence erected illegally around a farmland at Venbavur in the district on Saturday morning, the police said.
The deceased were identified as M Periyasamy (62) of Venbavur and K Chellammal (55), also from the same village.
According to the police, Periyasamy was cultivating maize on his farmland. To protect his crops from wild boars, he illegally set up an electric fence around the field. Around 6.30 am on Saturday, he headed to his field to milk his cows. Without ascertaining whether there was power supply to the electric fence, Periyasamy touched it, making him suffer a shock and die on the spot, the police said.
About an hour later, Chellammal, who was also cultivating maize on a leased field nearby, went to Periyasamy’s field to fetch water from a tank there. Unaware that the fence was electrified, she touched it from a different side and got electrocuted, leading to her death, the police added.
On information, the Kaikalathur police recovered their bodies and sent them to the Perambalur government hospital for autopsy. They also registered a case of unnatural death.