Thiruvananthapuram: An 85-year-old man who was admitted to the Medical College Hospital in a serious condition died a few hours after allegedly being roughed up by the male home nurse.
Police is awaiting the autopsy report before deciding whether to book the man or not. The deceased identified as Sreekantan Nair of Annapoorna, Kudayal, Kunnathukaal near Vellarada was admitted in the General Ward of the Medical College Hospital due to liver dysfunction.
Due to old age ailments, his wife Sreekumari, 80 sought the help of a home nurse agency. On December 4, they recruited Natarajan, 52, of Kallampally as a home nurse.
On Thursday night he came and demanded Rs 500 from Sreekumari, which she provided. The man returned, in an inebriated state and argued with Sreekumari claiming that the money was not enough. He started bashing up the woman and also punched Mr Nair. He took a flask kept on the table and poured hot water all over the body of the old man.
The relatives of other patients woke up hearing the commotion, held the suspect, roughed him up and handed him over to the Medical College Police.
Mr Nair who was immediately shifted to the Intensive Care Unit, later succumbed to his injuries. He is also survived by daughter Usha and son-in-law Sreenivasan.
“Doctors have said prima facia that this is a case of natural death. However he is in our custody and further actions will be based on the autopsy. He does not have any criminal antecedents,” said Medical College CI Sheen Tharayil.
