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Catholics mourn for hoaxed nurse

Woman found dead after radio prank
Catholics mourn for hoaxed nurse
Published: December 10, 2012 08:03 AM GMT
Updated: December 10, 2012 12:22 AM GMT

A memorial service was held yesterday in the Indian hometown of Jacintha Saldhana, the nurse found dead last week after receiving a prank phone call from two DJs, it was reported here.

Saldhana is thought to have committed suicide after she was fooled by the Australian DJs who telephoned a London hospital pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

She put the call through to another nurse who gave the impostors details of the condition of the Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William, who was in the hospital with severe morning sickness.

Saldanha’s family, who live in the town of Shirva, in Karnataka state, 400 kms from Bangalore, said they could not believe she had committed suicide, the French news agency AFP reported.

It is thought that the family hope her funeral will be held in Shirva.

Saldanha, who was married with two teenage daughters, arrived in the UK nine years ago from Muscat, Oman, where she had worked for three years, the British Observer newspaper said.

Staff at the medical college in Mangalore where she trained, the Father Muller Medical College in Mangalore, Karnataka, described her as a “very efficient, intelligent and lively personality,” the Observer said.

Father Richard Coelho, administrator of the Father Muller Medical College Hospital posted a Facebook message saying: “It is really shocking to hear that Jacintha is no more.”

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