14 DAY TRIAL // 46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha took her own life on Friday, following a prank call by an Australian radio station, in which presenters pretended to be the Queen of England and prince Charles.
As we wrote last week, what seemed like a harmless joke turned tragic as, 48 hours after the incident, she was found dead.
“She would have felt much shame about the incident,” her brother Naveen is now saying.
The pranksters had called the hospital to inquire about the Duchess of Cambridge's wellbeing, pretending to be her family, and Jacintha put them through to Kate's room.
As the interview circled the globe, she felt humiliated, and was left “traumatized,” according to close friends' accounts, relayed by the Daily Mail.
“What these Australian guys did is not acceptable. Their prank has killed our beloved Jacintha. Her death should be blamed on them. [...] She must have been embarrassed and under a lot of mental trauma because of those two people, otherwise she wouldn’t have taken such an extreme step of killing herself,” a neighbor who knew Jacintha very well adds.
Saldanha worked at the King Edward VII Hospital in central London. When Sydney-based 2Day FM called, she didn't reveal information on Kate's state, however she put them through to an unidentified coworker who did.
Hospital reps state that they had made it clear she had done nothing wrong and were “working hard to support her.” Chairman Lord Glenarthur wrote the station, accusing them of “humiliating two dedicated and caring nurses.”
The nurse was of Indian descent, having moved from Mangalore in south-west India to the UK ten years ago. She was a devout Catholic, described by her brother as a “proper and righteous person.”
Do you think the radio hosts are in any way responsible for Mrs. Saldanha's death? Leave your response in the comment section below.