Hospital employee held for stealing chain from corpse

A woman employee of a government medical college hospital here was arrested Friday for allegedly stealing a gold chain from a corpse, police said. Based on a complaint from the kin of the deceased, a woman, that the chain weighing 1.5 sovereigns was missing from the body, the grade 2 attender was held, the police said.

The deceased, who had been admitted to the hospital on Thursday after she committed suicide, died this morning. The accused attender confessed to the crime after being questioned. Also, she admitted to have committed a similar theft earlier also, they said.

Meanwhile, a statement from the state health minister K K Shylaja said her office has directed suspension of the woman attender from service. The State Human Rights Commission has asked the police to inquire into the incident and submit a report.