|
Bangalore: Family
members of Indian nurse Jacintha Saldhana, who fell prey to a hoax
call from Australian radio jockeys about the Duchess of
Cambridge's pregnancy, are too shocked to react to her mysterious
death in London Friday as her husband did not tell them it was
suicide.
"We were too shocked to hear that Jacintha, 46, was no more from
her husband (Benedict Barboza). He did not tell us that she
committed suicide and hung up, as he was trying to come to terms
with the tragedy," Barboza's elder sister Irene D'Souza told IANS
from Shirva, about 400 km from Bangalore in the coastal Dakshina
Kannada district.
As Barboza rushed to London from Bristol to collect Saldhana's
body, D'Souza learnt about the incident through the media and news
channels since she could not contact her brother again.
"We came to know about it (suicide) only through media and news
channels on TV. Our mother (Carmine Barboza, 82,) is inconsolable.
It is hard to believe Jacintha could do it as she was not type who
would take life like that," D'Souza said in anguish.
Saldhana, mother of two children (a son and daughter) was found
unconscious Friday morning in the quarters of King Edward VII
Hospital in central London where she was working as a senior
nurse, and was pronounced dead when rushed to the hospital in an
ambulance.
"We didn't even know that Jacintha got unwittingly involved in the
hoax call though we read something about it in newspapers last
week that there was a prank call to the hospital from a radio
station in Australia, whose jockeys tried to know about the
princess' (Kate Middleton) health by imitating the voice of the
queen (Elizabeth) and prince (Charles)," Saldhana's nephew said,
but declined to be named.
As the bereaved family is planning to perform Saldhana's last
rites in the home town, they are waiting for Barboza to complete
the formalities in London to bring the body here this week after
police investigation into the suspected suicide.
"Benedict wants to bring Jacintha's body to India for burial at
Shirva. We are waiting to know when he would be able to come so
that all other family members could join us for prayers and last
rites," a grieving D'Souza said.
Barboza's four sisters Irene, Janet, Severine and Mary reside at
Shirva and Mangalore.
Saldhana, who graduated from Father Muller College of Nursing in
Mangalore in mid-eighties, first worked in the Gulf for a few
years and went to London after marriage 15 years ago to live with
Barboza, an accountant at a supermarket at Bristol, 190 km from
London.
When the jockeys (Mel Greig and Michael Christian) from Sydney
radio station called the hospital early Dec 4, Jacintha picked the
call in the absence of the receptionist at that time (5.30 a.m.)
and transferred it to another duty nurse who briefed them on the
health condition of the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate), who was
admitted to the royal hospital Dec 3 after she complained of acute
morning sickness.
Though the Duchess was discharged Dec 6, news about the hoax call
shocked the royal family and caused outrage the world over,
especially in the British media. The two radio jockeys were later
sacked.
|
Comments
|
Quick links