Home nurse and friend arrested for stealing gold from elderly woman in Muvattupuzha

MUVATTUPUZHA: A home nurse and her friend have been arrested in connection with the theft of gold ornaments from an elderly bedridden woman at Mancherippady in Marady. The accused have been identified as Sudha Shankar (38), a native of Sempatti in Sindhupatti, Madurai, and Lakshmi (46), from Malayagoundanpatti in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. The arrests were made by a police team led by P. Abdul Muneer, DySP of Muvattupuzha. According to police, Sudha carried out the theft by disguising Lakshmi as a man.

Sudha had initially claimed that an unknown man entered the house around 8 a.m. on Sunday, stuffed a cloth into the mouth of the 85-year-old woman, Mariamma, and stole a 10-sovereign gold chain and bangles. However, the stolen ornaments were later recovered from beneath a stone hidden among waste materials in a nearby property. The investigation team included Muvattupuzha Inspector Anil George, SIs N.S. Roy, Charlie Thomas, S. Sreenath, P.C. Jayakumar, M.M. Ubais, and C.B. Anilkumar, ASIs M.K. Girija and A.V. Dini, and Senior Civil Police Officers Harris H, Ratheesh M.P., Sreeju Rajan, Binil Eldhose, and Ajesh A.P.

Sudha had been caring for Mariamma, who suffers from memory loss, for the past five months. Mariamma, a retired nursing superintendent from the Delhi Health Department, is unmarried and lives alone. She was known for her fondness for gold ornaments.

Theft planned using male disguise Police said Lakshmi stayed at the house the previous day as part of the plan. To make people believe the thief was a man, Lakshmi wore a shirt and pants before entering Mariamma’s room in the morning and removing her chain and bangles. Sudha later claimed that the “thief” had locked her inside the bathroom. Investigators found that she had deliberately removed the bathroom latch herself to support the false story.

After hiding the gold ornaments, Lakshmi left the area through a nearby house compound where there were no CCTV cameras. However, footage from a camera located about one-and-a-half kilometres away became a crucial clue in the investigation.

Lakshmi had been working as a caregiver for another elderly woman living about two kilometres away. Police said Sudha and Lakshmi first became friends while working at a socks manufacturing company in Dindigul. After Lakshmi lost her job, Sudha helped her find work as a home nurse. Both accused will be produced before the court and remanded after the evidence collection procedures.