The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Nurse’s body flown home to India for her funeral
THE BODY of the nurse found dead after being duped by a prank call to the hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge has arrived in India ahead of her funeral today.
Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha (46) was found hanging in her nurses’ quarters at London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital by a colleague and a security guard on December 7.
Three days earlier the nurse had transferred a call from two Australian DJs, believing they were the Queen and Prince of Wales, to a colleague who described in detail the condition of the duchess during her hospital stay for severe pregnancy sickness.
Her funeral will take place today at Our Lady of Health Church in the town of Shirva, Karnataka, at 4pm local time, her family said.
Ms Saldanha’s children described the “unfillable void” left in their lives by their mother’s death as a mass was held at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday.
Following the service, her husband Benedict Barboza and two children Junal and Lisha paid an emotional tribute to a “kind-hearted, generous and well-respected woman”.
Fighting back tears, Mr Barboza said: “My wife, you were the light in my darkness, who always showed me the way forward. “I feel a part of me has been ripped out. “Your loss is a very painful one and nobody can take that place in my life ever again. I love you and miss you forever.”
Ms Saldanha’s daughter Lisha (14) said: “We are shattered and there’s an unfillable void in our lives.”
Her son Junal (16) said: “In times of difficulty you showed us the way forward to happiness and success.”
Indian-born Ms Saldanha left two notes in her room and also had marks on her wrist when her body was discovered, Westminster Coroner’s Court in London heard on Thursday.
A provisional date of March 26 has been set for the next inquest hearing.
John Lofthouse, the King Edward VII’s Hospital chief executive, has said the nurse was reassured on a number of occasions by senior management after the hoax.
The DJs behind the call — Mel Greig and Michael Christian — have given an emotional account on Australian television of their reaction to Ms Saldanha’s death.