Contract staffer arrested for stealing earrings from Covid patient at Surat hospital

A woman working on contract at New Civil Hospital in Surat was arrested Saturday for allegedly stealing gold earrings from a Covid-19 patient admitted at the facility, Surat police said.

Kanchan Parmar, a resident of Adajan area in Surat city, a class IV grade employee at the Covid hospital on NCH campus in Surat, allegedly stole jewellery worth Rs 50,000 from a patient, Vijayaben Suhagiya, on April 5 after the latter was taken by her to the ward on the fourth floor of the hospital, police said.

Khatodara police said, Suhagiya, a resident of Matawadi in Varachha, was brought to NCH by her son Rajesh for treatment after she tested positive for the infection. Suhagiya was taken to the fourth floor of the hospital in a stretcher by Parmar. While inside the elevator, Parmar allegedly told Suhagiya to remove her earrings. The woman removed the earrings, put them in a bag and handed it over to Parmar for some time.

On reaching the ward bed, Suhagiya found that the earrings were missing, following which she complained to the nursing staff. The next day, the hospital’s security department checked the CCTV cameras and identified Parmar. On Saturday, Suhagiya’s son submitted a complaint of theft against Parmar at Khatodara police station.

Khatodara police inspector T V Patel said, “We recovered the stolen earrings from Parmar and arrested her on Saturday.”