Mourners pack Indian funeral for royal hoax nurse

Published on Dec 17, 2012

Mr Benedict Barboza, wearing glasses at centre, holds his son Junal, right, and daughter Lisha, during the burial of nurse Jacintha Saldanha in her hometown Shirva, near Mangalore in southwest India on Dec 17, 2012. Nurse Saldanha was found hanging in her room in London days after she had been duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge. Her death is being investigated as an apparent suicide. -- PHOTO: AP

SHIRVA, India (AFP) - About 2,000 mourners packed a church in India on Monday for the funeral of a nurse found hanged after taking a royal hoax call, as her family said they had nearly lost the strength to grieve.

Indian-born Jacintha Saldanha, 46, apparently committed suicide after answering the call from Australian radio hosts to the London hospital where the pregnant wife of Prince William was admitted with acute morning sickness.

"The events of the last week have shattered our lives and we barely have any strength to grieve," widower Benedict Barboza and the couple's two children said in a statement read by a family friend after the funeral.

"The incidents leading to this tragedy are being investigated by the London Metropolitan Police and they have assured us of a full and fair investigation."

Mourners pack Indian funeral for royal hoax nurse

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