Woman slips away from GH, commits suicide

CHENNAI: The body of a 33-year-old woman, who had been admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, was recovered from the Ennore Creek on Friday.  Police claimed that she slipped away from the hospital and committed suicide by jumping into the water from a train.S Vasanti, a resident of Vivekananda Colony in Vepampattu, Tiruvallur district, was suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus, a long-term autoimmune disorder, and was brought to the hospital by her husband A Sridhar on September 6, Inspector Vijayan told Express.The couple got married in 1998 and had two children — Venkatesh (12) and Nilesh (8). Sridhar worked as supervisor in a private aluminum company in Ambattur. “Vasanti had been affected by the ailment, which caused rashes and boils in her mouth, stomach and other organs, for the last one-and-a-half years and had undergone treatment in various private hospitals,” he said.Admitted in Tower Block-I, Vasanti was visited by several of her close relatives on Thursday afternoon. Around 8.30 pm, her sister Jayanti had left her alone and had gone downstairs to buy milk and, on returning at 9.15 pm, found Vasanti missing. “The family members searched the hospital and other places in Royapuram and Ennore. Meanwhile, the staff nurse registered the patient as absconding and admitted another patient in the bed,” Vijayan said.Vasanti’s uncle Kamaraj lodged a complaint at the Flower Bazaar Police Station and a ‘woman missing’ complaint was registered. Since the initial suspicion was that she must be somewhere on the hospital premises, special police teams searched every nook and cranny of the hospital.The Inspector said while the search was on, he received information that passengers of a Gummidipoondi train had pulled the chain after seeing a woman jump into the Ennore creek.He informed Vasanti’s relatives and rushed to the spot. The body found in the water was identified by Sridhar as that of his wife.The Ennore police registered a case under Section 174 and handed over the body to Vasanti’s relatives. On the issue of patients going missing from the wards, hospital authorities told reporters that while closed-circuit television cameras had be installed inside, they would now be put up outside too.