Tamil Nadu: Doctor' held for lying about Jayalalithaa's death

Chennai: Ramaseetha, who caused a sensation claiming she quit the Apollo Hospital as a doctor in protest against the hospital admitting Jayalalithaa in the ICU for treatment despite her being lifeless when brought in, has now landed in jail. It turned out she was not a doctor and had never worked at the Apollo. Cyber crime police arrested her Saturday morning for spreading rumours about Jayalalithaa’s death and falsely claiming she was a doctor. Ramaseetha was produced before a metropolitan magistrate at the Egmore court and remanded to custody. A case has been registered against her under IPC section 419 (cheating by impersonation), sec 153 (making provocative statement with intent to cause riot) and sec 505 (threat to public order).

The police action followed a complaint from Apollo saying Ramaseetha was spreading falsehood about Jayalalithaa’s treatment and lying that she was a doctor at the hospital. A resident of Perambur, she had studied nutrition and it was not clear whether she worked in any medical institution. Joining up with Jayalalithaa’s Deepa, Ramaseetha made her controversial proclamation during a public interaction saying Jayalalithaa had no pulse when she was admitted to Apollo on September 22. She had also said within 20 days of her admission in the hospital, arrangements for Jayalalithaa’s burial at the MGR memorial had begun. Her statement was widely carried in the media besides going viral on the Web, which alarmed the Apollo Hospital. Confronted by the police now, Ramaseetha reportedly admitted she lied so as to impress Deepa and get some post in her outfit as reward.