Kate Middleton pregnancy watch: Did the Duchess of Cambridge kill Jacintha Saldanha?
KATE Middleton Pregnancy Watch: Day 7 of the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy – Jacintha Saldanha and 2Day FM presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian continue to occupy minds:
The front pages:
The Sun: “First Pic of Hoaxed Suicide Nurse”
“Husband tells of his grief – MY ANGEL”
The Observer: “One simple message for hoax victim: ‘Bless You'”
The Sunday Times: “Hospital: ‘foolish’ prank caused nurse’s suicide”
Sunday Express: “Agony of Hoax Nurse’s Family: Mother-in-law weeps at death of Royal nurse who hid anguish”
Independent: “Death of a Nurse – The Last Call Home – ‘There was no sign anything was wrong'”
The Letter
Lord Glenarthur, chairman of King Edward VII’s Hospital where Kate Middleton was staying with acute morning sickness, has written to Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of Southern Cross Austereo who own the station. Lord Glenarthur is certain where the blame lays: not with the hospital (so don’t sue us):
“I am writing to protest in the strongest possible terms about the hoax call made from your radio station, 2DayFM, to this hospital last Tuesday. King Edward VII’s Hospital cares for sick people and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call. Then to discover that, not only had this happened but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station’s management, was truly appalling. The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients. The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words. I appreciate you cannot undo the damage which has been done but I would urge you to take steps to ensure that such an incident could never be repeated.”
Who to blame?
Reddif: “We weren’t told her death was the result of a hoax call'”
Her family is in a state of shock after learning about this tragic incident. When contacted, her mother-in-law Carmine said that they are still awaiting more information.
“My son and Jacintha’s husband Benedict had called and told us that Jacintha is no more. We do not know anything more,” Carmine said. “We were waiting for her to come down to India [ Images ] and were looking forward to her visit. She usually comes down every two years during Christmas and the entire family would meet,” she added.
Carmine said that they do not know what exactly led to this tragedy. “We are told that it is a case of suicide, but all through we were never informed that it was a result of a prank call,” she said…
“She was down to earth and always ensured that others were comfortable her family members said,” her sisters-in-law, Janet and Irene say.
“We don’t know why she took such an extreme step. From what we read, we realised that it was not her fault. She was a disciplinarian by nature and we feel that she did not take this prank too kindly. The hospital had not taken any action against her and neither had anyone blamed her for this. We do not understand why she had to do this,” they rued.
But the Hollywood Reporter says the prank call led to the suicide. Act.
Australian DJs Suspended, Radio Station Pulls Ads After Prank Leads to Suicide
Mel Greig and Michael Christian, the Australian radio show DJs whose prank call to a King Edward VII Hospital nurse led to her suicide, have been suspended from their broadcast and are reportedly emotionally “shattered.”
What about 2Day FM presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian?
Rhys Holleran, the CEO of Southern Cross Austereo, the group that owns 2Day FM, said on Saturday that the company and the hosts “have mutually decided that the show will not return until further notice, out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy. I spoke to both presenters early this morning and it’s fair to say they’re completely shattered,” he said. “These people aren’t machines, they’re human beings. We’re all affected by this.”
The Star: “HOAX DJ’S ON SUICIDE WATCH”
Friends fear Mel Greig, who pretended to be the Queen in the call, may try to “self-harm”. Her dad Sydney said yesterday he did not know where she was and admitted: “I am very concerned for her.”
The Star then follows that insight with: “MAKE THEM PAY FOR NURSE DEATH”
Express: “NOW FRIENDS OF AUSTRALIAN DJ MEL GREIG ‘AT BREAKING POINT’ FEAR FOR HER SAFETY”
“Mel is very distraught about what has happened. It came as a total shock,” said the unnamed friend yesterday. “Everyone who knows her fears for her mental state. There are very real fears she could self-harm and nobody wants that. Her friends and family are very concerned for her. At the moment, she is blaming herself for what has happened. What was done in fun has turned out to be a horrible tragedy. I don’t know how you cope with such a terrible thing.”
Greig’s father, Sydney, also expressed his fears at his home in Adelaide last night: “I am very concerned. I have spoken to Mel but I have been told to not say any more. I don’t know where she is.”
The People: “We have genuine concerns for their state of mind”: Royal prank DJ’s on suicide watch
Australians Mel Greig and Michael Christian were both receiving “medical assistance” after bosses raised concerns for their “physical and emotional well-being”, the Sunday People has learned.
The pair were moved into hiding in the early hours of yesterday morning after receiving terrifying online death threats.
And a spokesman for Austereo, the firm which owns under-fire station 2Day FM, admitted: “We have real, genuine concerns for their well-being and state of mind.”
Jeff Kennett, the director of Beyondblue, a government-led initiative to spread awareness of depression and related mental illnesses, appealed for understanding.
“I just hope the Australian community will give them all the support they’re going to need to come to grips with this horrible outcome,” said Mr. Kennett, a former member of Parliament, who in a radio interview described the call as a joke and a prank.
“Nothing they did was offensive,” he said. “We’ve got to be careful we don’t become so PC that we deny ourselves the opportunity to extend to these two all the support we can.”
A British Conservative Party MP, Conor Burns, said Australian media regulators should be taking the matter “much more seriously…The presenters should lose their jobs and there needs to be a serious review as to what they regard as entertainment and what is inappropriate [in Australia],” he said.
Deccan Herald: “A tragic prank”
The media is known to pull out every trick to connect to their customer base but the act from Down Under is in no way as abominable as stealing data from a dead child’s phone, which was one of several transgressions that came up in the Lord Leveson inquiry in the UK with regard to unethical media hacking. Had they any inkling of how tragic the unintended consequences could be, if the prank did at all lead to the nurse’s death, even the most light-hearted pranksters may have hesitated.
May..?
The Family knew her best
Saldanha’s sister-in-law Irene D’Souza told AFP by telephone from the town of Shirva, 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the southern Indian city of Bangalore, that she was due to visit them at Christmas.
“It is hard to believe Jacintha could commit suicide as she was not the type of woman to do it,” D’Souza said.
The Daily Record:
Jacintha’s mother-in-law Carmine Barboza, 69, said from her home in Udupi, south-west India, that she heard the news when her son Benedict called on Friday night. She added: “He was crying and couldn’t speak much.
“We spoke to Benedict again this morning and he said he hasn’t been allowed to see her body yet because of legal formalities.”
She said Jacintha and Benedict and their children, son Junal, 16, and daughter Jenice Lisha, 14, had
celebrated last New Year in Udupi.She said: “Jacintha was a very caring woman. She used to call us every Sunday.
“We just cannot believe what has happened.”
The Herald: “‘I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha'”
Benedict Barboza, a 49-year-old hospital accountant, posted a tribute to his wife on his Facebook page. He wrote: ‘I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances, She will be laid to rest in Shirva, India.’
The couple’s 14-year-old daughter Lisha also paid tribute to her mother on Facebook by posting: “I miss you, I love you.”
Times of India: “Jacintha Saldanha lives in our hearts: kin”
“They call me at least once a week. They’re in our hearts,” said Ben’s mother 82-year-old Carmine Barboza. Sisters-in-law Irene, Mary, Severine and Janet, remember Jacintha as affable and eager to help others. “She’d make sure others were comfortable or had eaten their food before looking into her own needs,” said neighbour Albert Fernandes, who gets groceries for Ben’s mother daily.
Is she 82 0r 69? The press are confused.
India reacts
Times of India: “Prank and death evoke grief and rage”
Mangalorean Jacintha was the victim of a prank played by RJs of Sydney’s 2Day FM station who called the hospital pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, father of Prince William whose pregnant wife Catherine was being treated at the hospital. While Tia Maria Smith on Facebook described the death as, “A prank dat went wrong, because these stupid DJs were mocking our Queen and monarchy…,” Terry Dwyer observed, “I think you’ll find most Australians hold Her Majesty in the highest regard, but we don’t go in for a lot of pomp nor do we take ourselves seriously. I agree the prank was in bad taste, but it was a bit of fun! No one expected it to end like this…”
Not suicide?
“Radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian did not kill British nurse Jacintha Saldanha,” said Sydney’s Daily Telegraph in an editorial, hitting out at the “predictable British media frenzy”.
“Suicide always leaves us looking for answers — and for someone to blame. Suicide is a complex act and can rarely be entirely blamed on a lone event, however distressing,” it added.
While reports have referred to suicide, British police said the death remained unexplained ahead of a post-mortem.
Carole Malone (Mirror): “Jacintha Saldanha: For her kids’ sake, we must find out what drove her to take her life”
It’s a distressing, pointless waste of a good and decent life. A death that quite simply should never have happened.
Can she name deaths that should happen?
Jacinta, according to those who knew her, was a shy, quiet woman who must have been horribly upset believing she had not only let down her employers at the King Edward Hospital, but also Wills and Kate.
Malone can read minds.
But surely with all the support we’re told she was getting, that wouldn’t have been enough for her to kill herself and leave her two adored children motherless just three weeks before Christmas?
The non-suicidal can find it hard to understand the suicidal. That’s if it was suicide…
I don’t know what happened to Mrs Saldanha in the immediate aftermath of the hoax by those two stupid Aussie DJ’s but the inquest being held next week has a duty to find out. There also needs to be some kind of independent inquiry to determine what or who it was that drove this gentle soul to take her own life.
A gentle soul? Malone never knew her i life but knows her in death.
It’s all about Kate
Radar Online delivers this. Nice. KAte Middleton appears over the dead woman’s head like a thought bubble. Did the pressure of being Kate’s nurse make her do it? Discuss…\
Posted: 9th, December 2012 | In: Reviews, Royal Family Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
