Chennai, 16 June 2021: The Chennai police on Tuesday arrested a woman contract worker at Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital for allegedly killing a patient whose body was found days after she went missing from the Covid ward.

According to the doctor, the body was lying on the 8th floor for about 15 days. Police arrested the accused Rathi Devi after enquiring in the hospital.

Police said, “Rathi was working in the hospital for the past three years and she strangled the corona patient to death merely for five hundred rupees.”

41-year-old Sunitha was admitted due to a breathing problem on May 22 at Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital. The postmortem report of the patient has also confirmed the murder and the accused woman worker have also admitted her crime. The accused told that she murdered the victim for cash and a mobile phone.

The deceased’s mobile phone has also been recovered from Rathi Devi. The other staff of the hospital told police that they had last seen Rathi taking Sunitha in a wheelchair. In further investigation, it was revealed that Rathi is a widow and lives with her 22-year-old son and a daughter. She killed Sunita as she was in the dire need of the money, police said.

The accused told police that she saw a 500 rupee note in Sunita’s bag and decided to steal that note. So, she took Sunitha in a wheelchair by saying she’s taking her for the scan. She then carried Sunitha to the 8th floor by emergency lift and strangled her to death.