Malaysian woman electrocuted while talking on plugged in phone: police

A woman has reportedly died from being electrocuted while talking on her mobile phone while it was plugged in to its charging point.

The victim, Suhana Mohamad, 30, was in her home in the Malaysian suburb of Cheras, off the capital of Kuala Lumpur, according to local police deputy chief Superintendent Abdul Ghani Mohamad Ji, who spoke to local press.

Her husband, a police officer with the Malaysian Special Branch Counter-Terrorism unit, was asleep when the incident happened, and told local paper Kosmo that it happened "suddenly" while the phone was being charged.

He brought her to the hospital but she was pronounced dead on arrival.

It's unclear how Suhana alerted her husband at the time of the shock, nor did the family provide details on the phone and wall socket charger to authorities, but it is extremely rare for people to die from incidents such as these.

Industry voices commenting on the issue have suggested that off-brand charging accessories which are not properly certified, could have electrocuted the woman. Knockoff batteries also carry the danger of exploding from over-charging.

Last year, a woman in Hong Kong complained of numbness in her fingers after using her phone while it was charging, and was sent to the hospital.

In 2013, a Beijing man slipped into a coma after being shocked while charging his iPhone 4 using an off-brand charger. His sister reportedly found him convulsing on the floor after the incident.

Another Chinese woman that year was killed when she answered a call on her iPhone 5 while it was plugged in. She collapsed immediately after being electrocuted, her sister said.

Apple said at the time it was investigating the circumstances around her death. Two months after, the company started offering its chargers at a discount to customers trading in their existing third party chargers.

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