Bengaluru woman dons doctor's coat to steal gold from patients in hospital

A woman nonchalantly strolled into St Philomena’s Hospital, Viveknagar, on January 14

Police are hunting for a woman, aged about 35 years, who stole gold jewellery from two female patients at a private hospital by posing as a doctor last week.

Donning a medical coat and carrying a sling bag, the woman nonchalantly strolled into St Philomena’s Hospital, Viveknagar, on January 14. She reached the first floor and walked into the ‘B’ ward around 2.45 pm. She headed to room number 7, bed number 3, where a 72-year-old woman named G Saras was undergoing treatment for breathing difficulties.

She introduced herself as a doctor and asked the woman’s 34-year-old son Ramesh Kumar J to wait outside so that she could examine her private parts. Kumar agreed. She came out after 10 minutes and told Kumar all his mother’s parameters were “normal” but asked him not to disturb her.

Ten minutes later, a nurse arrived and said she needed to take Saras’s blood sample for a test. Kumar got suspicious and asked the nurse about the “doctor”. The nurse expressed ignorance.

The family then found out that Saras’s five-gram gold ring and 41-gram gold chain were missing.

Even as they grappled with the mystery, they discovered that a 58-year-old patient named Komal N had lost her gold chain to the same woman in identical circumstances.

Following a complaint from Kumar, Ashoknagar police have taken up a case of theft and cheating.

A police officer who’s part of the investigation said CCTV footage showed the woman entering and leaving the hospital. Hospital security neither stopped nor asked for her ID because she wore a medical coat. “We are trying to find her,” the officer said.