Husband Booked for Culpable Homicide After YouTube-Assisted Home Birth Ends in Wife's Death

Tiruppur: A 32-year-old woman from Punjaithalavaipalayam village in Tiruppur district died on Sunday due to severe post-partum haemorrhage, following an attempted home birth guided by online videos.

The deceased, K. Sasikala, went into labour during the early hours of June 24. Aiming for a completely natural delivery at home, her husband, 35-year-old Kolanthasamy, and her mother-in-law assisted with the childbirth while actively watching natural birthing tutorials on YouTube.

Although she successfully gave birth to a healthy baby girl, critical complications arose immediately afterwards when the placenta failed to expel naturally, triggering severe internal bleeding.

As her health rapidly deteriorated, Sasikala was first rushed to the Government Erode Medical College and Hospital in Perundurai before being transferred to a private medical facility in Coimbatore on June 25. Despite intensive medical interventions, she succumbed to her complications on Sunday morning.

Following a formal complaint lodged by the Block Medical Officer of Kunnathur, the Uthukuli police registered a criminal case against Kolanthasamy under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Preliminary investigations by the Health Department revealed that the pregnancy had never been registered under the state's maternal tracking database, the Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME) system. Authorities confirmed that the newborn infant remains in a stable and healthy condition.

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