Foul play in Jacintha death? Family awaits autopsy report

Vicky Nanjappa meets the grieving family of the Indian nurse who was found dead at the nurses' quarters next to the private King Edward VII hospital in Marylebone, central London, after being the victim of a hoax.

The case of Jacintha Saldanha has shocked everyone. Even as her family await her body at her hometown in Udupi, they have now demanded that an independent inquiry be conducted into the incident.

Despite a huge settlement being made, the family of the deceased nurse suspects some foul play in the entire incident.

We are now awaiting the results of the post mortem and want to see what the report has to say, informed Ivan, a family friend.

However, family members say that it is too early to comment anything on the issue as they have absolutely no idea as to what had taken place.

All we know is that she is gone and we miss her a lot, Caroline Dsouza, sister-in-law of the deceased, told rediff.com.

The family at Udupi is still in a state of shock. They cannot believe that Jacintha could have committed suicide.

She was such a strong woman. She has two grown up children. Why would she resort to something as drastic as this? I still do not know the reason, Jacintha's mother-in-law Camerile Barboza said.

Family members add that their priority now was to bring back her body back to India.

They are worried about what is going on in Bristol and say that her husband and children are all by themselves and have no relatives.

Making a desperate plea to the Indian authorities, Caroline said, "Please help us bring her body back. The family is under a lot of stress already and we cannot bear it anymore. We would want to know the exact reason for the death and we are still awaiting the post mortem report."

The family members have been told that her husband Benedict was allowed to see the body only once at the hospital.

Naveen Saldanha, brother of the deceased nurse, says that they cannot tell when the body is expected to arrive in Udupi.

'We are constantly in touch with Benedict and her two children, Junal (16) and Lisha (14). They are all in a state of shock and spend their entire time in trying to finish the formalities. We expect the body to arrive latest by today and hope to conduct the last rites by Thursday,' he said.

The family members say that they would consider conducting a second post mortem in India once the body arrives.