A nurse, who looked after an 83-year-old ailing woman living alone in Kottayam district near Kochi, allegedly used to drug her with sleeping pills for nearly two years and looted cash and gold ornaments of about Rs 75 lakh over the period, police said on Wednesday.
A case had been
registered in this regard on a complaint from the woman, Rachel Rhodstrom, on February 24 and a probe into the matter is on, they said.
Rachel, suffering from Parkinson disease, lives alone at her ancestral home in her native village Ayamanam with some servants, police said.
Rachel, who had worked in Paris as a biologist for several years, used to give blank cheques to the nurse for withdrawing money for domestic expenses. She draws a monthly pension of over Rs 1 lakh, they said.
During investigation, it was found that the nurse had withdrawn up to Rs 3 lakh during few months. She used to drug Rachel with sleeping pills mixed with food and other medicines, which kept her in a semi-conscious state for the past two years, police said.
The nurse also allegedly sold expensive trees from the estate along with her lover.
The theft came to light only after the nurse had left in August last year. In October, Rachel went to France to be with her husband and son. She filed the complaint after returning to Kerala last month.
Rachel's relatives hired a local private detective agency who gathered all details about the nurse, but the police failed to immediately take her into custody, she said in her complaint filed with IGP Central Range B Sandhya.