Hyderabad woman dupes elderly couple with fake COVID-19 vaccine, robs them

A nursing student sedated an old couple in Hyderabad claiming it to be a COVID-19 vaccine shot and stole 80 grams of gold jewellery from them. The police with the Rachakonda commissionerate arrested 21-year-old Anusha, a 21-year-old aspiring to be an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) for the offence on Sunday.

The incident was reported at Lalitha Nagar under Meerpet police station limits of Rachakonda police commissionerate on Saturday. K Laxman (80), a retired government employee and his wife Kasturi (70) complained to police on Saturday night that the nurse had duped them in the name of COVID-19 vaccine. Police say they arrested Anusha on Sunday, within hours after the couple lodged a complaint.

Anusha, who is undergoing an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) course at a private college used to be a tenant near Laxman's house. Police say the woman was known to the couple. The accused approached the couple with an offer to arrange COVID-19 vaccine doses for them. When the couple agreed, Anusha came to their home on Saturday at 3 PM. and administered one dose of a  sedative each to Laxman and Kasturi.

"Before giving the jab, she told us that we will be drowsy for some time. We don't know what happened after that but when we woke up late in the evening, we found that we had been robbed," Kasturi said.

Kasturi realized that her mangalsutra, gold ring, earrings and toe rings, all weighing about eight tolas, were missing. The couple immediately approached Meerpet police station and lodged a complaint. Police took up the investigation and cracked the case with the arrest of Anusha.

Police investigations revealed that Anusha and her husband knew the victims as they used to live on rent in their neighbourhood. The young couple had later shifted to another area. The accused and her husband were reportedly facing financial problems and she decided to target the old couple as they were living alone.

Police have advised people not to believe those who promise to arrange Covid vaccine as the vaccine is not available in the open market and only the health authorities are authorised to administer the vaccine. At this stage, the vaccine is being given only to healthcare workers and frontline workers of various departments tackling the pandemic.