Her husband and two
teenage children have said little, overwhelmed by the shocking death of a
wife and mother thrust suddenly into the public eye.
An inquest, expected to
open Thursday, may shed more light on the reasons for her apparent
decision to take her own life early Friday, three days after putting
through the fateful call from two Australian DJs who impersonated Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Charles to gain medical details about Prince
William's pregnant wife, Catherine.
In the meantime, a picture is starting to emerge of a generous, caring woman who was caught up in a media maelstrom.
The 46-year-old nurse
moved to the UK from India a decade
ago, and for the past four years,
she had worked in the hospital where Catherine was being treated for
acute morning sickness. She spent her time off duty in the family home
in the southwestern city of Bristol, according to UK media reports.
British lawmaker Keith
Vaz -- who accompanied Saldanha's husband, Benedict Barboza, and their
children, Lisha and Junal, on a visit to the hospital living quarters in
central London where she was found dead -- said they were devastated by
the loss of "a loving mother and a loving wife."
With the family standing
beside him, looking shell-shocked, he added: "This is a close family.
They are devastated by what has happened. They miss her every moment of
every day, but they are really grateful to the support of the British
public and to the public overseas."
UK media reports have
quoted an online testimonial for her driving instructor in which
Saldanha apparently described herself as "a very nervous person."
But for her classmates and colleagues back home in India, she was a deeply religious, benevolent and bold young woman.
"Jacintha was loving and
caring," recalled the Rev. Sister Aileen Mathias, chief nursing officer
at the Father Muller Medical College in the southern Indian city of
Mangalore.
Both trained at the
institution's nursing school in the 1980s. Mathias still remembers her
night shifts with Saldanha, who was a year her senior.
"She would share her
bread, coffee and sweets with the patients," Mathias said as she
reminisced about her time with her old friend.
Saldanha, at that time single, was a nursing student from 1984 to 1988 and said to be a devout Catholic.
"She was very religious. She will pray for the patients. Both of us will pray together for the patients," Mathias said.
Last year, Saldanha
visited her alma mater and donated money for the needy receiving
treatment at the hospital, the nursing chief said. "Jacintha was a
generous person. She would help patients whenever she was here."
A condolence message
posted on the website of Mangalore's Father Muller Charitable
Institutions described the late mother of two as a "dedicated and caring
nurse."
But Mathias also
recollected Saldanha's lighter side. "She was a forward-looking girl.
And she was very humorous. We cracked jokes. It was fun being together."
Her friends have not forgotten her diligence in her studies.
"Jacintha was pretty
studious. She would often score as much as 75% or even more (in exams).
And she was an active participant in several activities of the college,"
Mathias said.
Nathalia Martis, 46, was in Saldanha's class. She cannot believe that her classmate committed suicide.
"I was shocked to hear that. She was not that type who would do that," she said.
Now a staff nurse herself at the Father Muller Hospital, Martis remembers Saldanha as a "bold girl."
"She was very good,
polite, but a very bold girl. She was always ready to face any kind of a
situation," Martis said of her friend.
She praised Saldanha for
her "leading capacity." Martis wouldn't elaborate, though, saying she
doesn't remember specific incidents from more than 25 years ago.
But she found Saldanha
to be a decisive woman. "She was a good decision-maker. ... I mean she
will take quick decisions during problems," Martis said.
A family acquaintance, Ivan D'Souza, also considered her a "confident" person.
"She was a student here
at Father Muller. She was a confident girl. And that's what her teachers
also tell us about her. She would not normally make mistakes," he said
on the phone from Mangalore. "We are not able to digest the news about
her death."
Others back in Britain also praised her as a professional and caring person.
Lord Glenarthur,
chairman of the private King Edward VII's Hospital where she worked,
described her as "a first-class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds
of patients."
And the hospital's chief
executive, John Lofthouse, spoke of her as "a much loved and valued
colleague" who would be greatly missed by her co-workers.
For now, D'Souza said,
much of Saldanha's family is in her birthplace, waiting for her body to
arrive. "We should get it as soon as possible," he said.
The decision on when to fly her remains back to India is one for her relatives to make, London's Metropolitan Police said.
So far, her family's most public expressions of grief have been made via Facebook.
Barboza, Saldanha's
husband, wrote over the weekend: "I am devastated with the tragic loss
of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances. She will be laid to
rest in Shirva, India."
Saldanha's daughter,
whose Facebook page is headed by a photo of herself with her mother and
brother, wrote: "I miss you, I loveeee you. (Heart) Jacintha saldanha."
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