After Electrocution Death, Viral Video Sparks Outrage as Electric Current Found in RNT Hostel Cooler

Udaipur: A new video from the hostel of RNT Medical College in Udaipur has gone viral, showing an alarming situation where electric current was flowing through a water cooler, just days after the tragic electrocution death of a resident doctor, Dr. Ravi Sharma, in a similar incident.

The video shows the college warden testing the water cooler using a tester, which lit up, indicating a live electric current. This has sparked renewed anger among resident doctors, who say the administration is not only neglecting safety but also trying to cover up the issue.

Doctors have taken to social media - X (formerly Twitter) to share their frustration and the viral video accusing the senior professors and the college authorities of trying to destroy the evidence.

Also read- RNT Doctor Death Case: Postmortem discrepancies spark hunger strike by Resident Doctors

One post said, “Who pulled out the switchboard? Friends from the college might know. These people trying to destroy evidence are none other than our respected seniors. They don’t even know how to erase evidence properly.”

Another doctor accused the administration of “lying and being responsible for Dr. Ravi’s death,” saying the situation in the hostel remains unsafe even after the incident. A doctor identified the person who removed the switchboard as Narendra Bansal, the Chief Warden.

Calling it a “direct attack on the self-respect of resident doctors,” the doctor demanded immediate justice and even called for a “complete shutdown” in Rajasthan’s medical system until accountability is ensured.

One of Dr. Ravi Sharma’s juniors from Dr. SN Medical College shared his pain online. The doctor on 'X' with the user name "Yamraj- the autopsy surgeon," said, "My senior from Dr. SN Medical College, Dr. Ravi Sharma, died on 18th June due to electrocution in the resident’s hostel in RNT Medical College, Udaipur. It’s been 8 days, and shockingly, the situation is still the same."

He further said, "Even now, live electric current is present in the water coolers and rooms of the same hostel. A doctor lost his life due to pure negligence, and no one has been held accountable in a meaningful way. The government keeps celebrating the opening of new medical colleges and increasing UG and PG seats every year. But they don’t care about the crumbling infrastructure, the lack of safety, the pathetic condition of hostels, and the zero accountability from administrations.

How many more young lives will it take for basic safety measures to be taken seriously? How many more deaths before infrastructure is prioritised over statistics? The truth is government is just producing doctors, but doing nothing to protect them."

The resident doctors are demanding strict action, improved hostel safety, and justice for Dr. Ravi. They say that unless the government takes infrastructure and safety seriously, more young doctors' lives will be at risk.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that resident doctors have escalated their protests, demanding justice, accountability, and announcing a hunger strike. This comes after a serious discrepancy between two postmortem reports surfaced, raising concerns about a possible cover-up on the matter.

Two separate postmortems were conducted - one by a team from RNT Medical College and another by SMS Medical College in Jaipur - both revealed different conclusions. The first postmortem, carried out by a team at RNT Medical College, noted only superficial injuries. The report mentioned marks of abrasions on Dr. Ravi Sharma’s body and an injury on the back of his head “caused by electric shock,” but did not clearly state electrocution as the cause of death. Investigators collected a sample of normal skin and sent it to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for analysis.

Dissatisfied with the initial findings, resident doctors asked for a second opinion. A team from SMS Medical College in Jaipur, led by Dr. Deepali Pathak and including specialists in plastic surgery, pathology, and another forensic expert, re-examined the body. Their report confirmed electrocution as the cause of death, noting three distinct electric injuries. They also sent a sample from the exact area where the current passed to the FSL, though they pointed out that no such samples had been taken in the first postmortem.

Medical dialogues had reported that a 35-year-old doctor was allegedly electrocuted while taking water from a cooler at the postgraduate hostel of Ravindranath Tagore (RNT) Medical College in Udaipur, who was about to join the Maharana Bhupal Government Hospital. Despite giving immediate CPR and rushing him to the hospital, the doctor could not be revived and was pronounced dead. The deceased, Dr Ravi Sharma, arrived in Udaipur recently ahead of his scheduled joining at the hospital. He was staying with his cousin, also a doctor, in the college PG hostel.

His sudden death led to widespread anger among resident doctors and students at the institution, who ceased their work and launched a protest on campus on Thursday, raising slogans and demanding the resignation of college officials - the principal and hostel warden.

Also read- Tragic: Doctor electrocuted to death at RNT College Hostel