Citation

Kim DY, Lee SH, Kim DJ. Korean J. Leg. Med. (2014) 2019; 43(4): 138-143.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Korean Society for Legal Medicine)

DOI

10.7580/kjlm.2019.43.4.138

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The authors investigated the cases of electrocution suicides in South Korea from 2008 to 2018. Out of 151,419 suicides during this 11-year period, suicide by electrocution was extremely rare. Only nine victims were recorded in eight cases, with one case involving a married couple. The majority of the victims were men (89%), and only one case involved a woman (11%). The mean age of the victims was 55 years, and ranged from 38 to 74 years. In all cases, the suicides occurred in the home, and low-voltage electricity was used. Two of the nine victims (22%) had an occupation related with electrical knowledge. Mental illness, such as depression and schizophrenia, was found in two cases (22%). An autopsy was not performed in all cases.


Keywords: Electrocution; Suicide; Electricity

Language: ko