In a big disclosure from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow city where a Thailand woman, despite being Covid positive, had to continue work in a spa for 5 days and the spa manager rushed her to Lohia hospital when her condition worsened.
Due to a shortage of money, she couldn’t get a bed for herself and suffered for two days laying on the hospital’s corridor. After two days, the woman’s sister from Singapore sent her money and she was able to procure a bed for herself but it was too late. She died hours after getting the bed.
According to the investigating officers, her condition deteriorated on April 23, but no one took her to the hospital. On April 28, when the woman’s condition became serious, the Thai spa manager, Salman admitted her to the Lohia hospital. The doctors refused to admit any foreign nationals without the permission of the administration.
When the doctors refused to treat her, the spa manager requested the spa owner Rakesh Sharma for help. Sharma has high connections in government and spoke to the administrative officers of Lucknow and the Thailand Embassy. After struggling for several hours, the doctors agreed to admit the Thai woman.
The spa manager deserted the woman after doctors asked to get medicine for treatment that cost around 40 thousand rupees. Because the woman could not pay her bills for the treatment, she remained untreated and for two days, she laid suffering on the hospital’s corridor. By the time, her sister from Singapore sent money for her treatment, she breathed her last on May 3.
Her death has prompted a probe. “The woman was a professional spa therapist and worked at a local spa centre. When she contracted Covid-19 virus, she was admitted to a hospital by spa centre manager Salman, who also performed her last rites as per the wish of members of the deceased family following permission from Thai embassy officials,” said DCP Sanjiv Suman, who is heading the team set up to probe the matter.
The inquiry was directed after reports claims of her being an escort was surfacing on social media and that she was invited to Lucknow by a son of a politician and a well-known builder at a time when cases of Covid-19 were rising.
However, the alleged politician has refuted the claims On Sundays and wrote to local police requesting an investigation into the matter.
It was revealed in the investigation that the deceased woman was a regular visitor to India since 2010 and to Lucknow since 2019.
“We questioned the owner of the spa and the manager regarding the matter and have not found anything suspicious or illegal yet. The investigation is still on, and we are looking into other aspects of the case,” said the officer.
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An official statement released by Lucknow police said the investigating team had spoken to people connected with the case. “Further investigation in the case will be done based on facts collected by the team,” read the police statement.