UNNAO NURSE’S POST-MORTEM EXAM RULES OUT RAPE, POLICE HINT AT SUICIDE

KANPUR: The 18-year-old nurse at a hospital in Unnao district who was found dead on Saturday was not raped and may have committed suicide, a senior police officer said on Sunday, even as her family members reiterated that she was gang-raped and murdered.

The body of the victim was found hanging by a rope from the outer wall of the hospital at around 11am on Saturday by some visitors. She joined the hospital on April 29 and was posted in the night shift, police said. Two people were taken into custody in connection with the case, additional superintendent of police, Shashi Shekhar Singh said on Sunday.

The woman’s family had lodged a police complaint on Saturday naming four people, including the owner of the hospital. “I have named the hospital owner Anil Kumar and three staff members, including Noor Alam, Chand Alam, in the FIR,” she had said.

Singh said that a post-mortem had ruled out that the woman was raped. He added that police were waiting for the forensic report of samples sent for examination.

Unnao SP Dinesh Tripathi said the victim was disturbed as the man she was in a relationship with was to be married to someone else. Before her death, she had called the man, said Tripathi. A senior police officer privy to developments said on Sunday that the mother and sister met the SP Tripathi and reiterated their charge of gang-rape and murder.

A senior police officer privy to the investigation said the woman had told authorities that the victim first came to the hospital on Thursday, with the man she was in a relationship with.

Police also said that the hospital was running without the requisite documentation and that there were no CCTV cameras in and around the facility.