A 54-year-old plastic surgeon allegedly jumped off the 10th floor of his apartment complex in Somasundara Palaya in HSR Layout on Monday after returning home from work.
Ashok Raj Koul headed the Department of Plastic, Cosmetic, Microvascular and Hand Surgery in Sparsh Hospital, Narayana Health City in Bommasandra.
He reached his apartment complex around 12.30 p.m. After parking his car, he went to the 10th floor of the building instead of his apartment on the fifth floor. “The building has 11 floors. He went to the 10th floor and jumped from a window,” said an officer attached to Bandepalaya police station.
Security guards immediately alerted the family. Dr. Koul was rushed to Narayana Hrudayalaya where he was declared dead on arrival.
The police have registered a case.
“His wife is an anaesthesiologist in Hosmat Hospital. They have two children. One is abroad and the second is in 10th standard. Preliminary investigations indicated that there was no problem in his family life,” said the officer. “We went through the CCTV footage and will be going through his call record details to see if it can shed light on what caused him to take the extreme step.”
Colleagues shocked
His death came as a shock to his colleagues. According to Sharan Shivraj Patil, Chairman and Chief of Orthopaedic Services, Sparsh Hospitals, Dr. Koul was one of the star surgeons in the hospital, and one of the celebrated plastic and re-constructive surgeons in India.
After obtaining his MS in General Surgery and MCh in plastic surgery from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, he did a year’s fellowship in Microvascular Surgery in Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad.
Dr. Koul was also known for advanced surgeries, like reconstruction of breast and Brachia Plexus injuries. Prior to his stint at Sparsh Hospital, he headed the Department of Plastic, Cosmetic, Microvascular and Hand Surgery at Medical Trust Hospital, Cochin.
