More than 2000 people turned out for the funeral of the nurse at the center of the royal hoax call today (17.12.12).
Local residents paid their respects to Jacintha Saldanha – who was found dead after an apparent suicide earlier this month after she put through a call from Australian DJs, who had impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles in an attempt to find out information on the pregnant Duchess Catherine at London’s King Edward VII hospital – as she was laid to rest in Shirva, just outside Mangalore in India.
Her family, including husband Benedict Barboza, 16-year-old son Junal and 14-year-old daughter Lisha, attended the ceremony at the Our Lady of Health Catholic Church.
Funeral-goers sang hymns and prayed for Jacintha during the ceremony.
Reverend Dr. Gerald Lobo said: ”Jacintha Saldhana spent her entire life looking after people who were sick and today it is our turn to show our appreciation of her work and her life.”
Jacintha’s son and daughter were said to be surprised that thousands had come to grieve with them.
Church priest Father Stany Tauro said: ”We have never seen a crowd like this. It is unbelievable.”
The nurse’s coffin was laid to rest with a black-and-white cross bearing her name, and birth and death dates marking the grave.