‘Thai woman who died of Covid was spa therapist’

THE PROBE WAS INITIATED AFTER REPORTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIMED SHE WAS AN ESCORT AND WAS INVITED TO LUCKNOW BY SON OF A POLITICIAN

The police team formed to probe the controversy around the death of a Thai woman, who reportedly died of Covid-19 in Lucknow last week, on Monday claimed the deceased was a professional therapist and worked at a local spa in the city.

“The woman was a professional spa therapist and worked at a local spa centre. When she contracted Covid-19 virus, she was admitted to a hospital by spa centre manager Salman, who also performed her last rites as per the wish of members of the deceased family following permission from Thai embassy officials,” said DCP Sanjiv Suman, who is heading the team set up to probe the matter.

The probe was initiated after reports on social media claimed she was an escort and was invited to Lucknow by son of a politician and a prominent builder at a time when cases of Covid-19 were rising.

On Sunday, the said politician refuted the claims and wrote to local police requesting an investigation into the matter.

The probe team found that the deceased was a regular visitor to India since 2010 and to Lucknow since 2019.

“We questioned the owner of the spa and the manager regarding the matter and have not found anything suspicious or illegal yet. The investigation is still on, and we are looking into other aspects of the case,” said the officer.

The woman was admitted to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, on April 28 and she died on May 3, as per ADM (administration) Amar Pal Singh. Later, her family was contacted in Thailand via embassy. As per their wishes, her last rites were performed by the police and district administration on May 5, he had said.

An official statement released by the Lucknow police said the probe team had spoken to people connected with the case.

“Further investigation in the case will be done on the basis of facts collected by the team,” read the police statement.