Nutritionist Held for Saying Amma Had No Pulse When Hospitalised

A speech she had made at a function organised by Deepa’s supporters had gone viral on social media.

Chennai Police arrested a nutritionist from the city on Saturday for claiming that former chief minister J Jayalalithaa had no pulse when she was admitted to Apollo Hospital on 22 September.

Rama Seetha was arrested weeks after Apollo Hospital lodged a complaint against her for a speech she had given at a function organised by Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar’s supporters, reported Times of India.

In her speech, Rama Seetha claimed that Jayalalithaa was shifted to the ICU despite being brought to the hospital with no pulse. She also alleged that arrangements had been made for her burial at MGR memorial 20 days after her hospitalisation.

The video of the speech was first published by a Tamil newspaper and was then republished by other news organisations, making it go viral. The timing of the video also surfaced around the same time as the 6 February press conference facilitated by the Tamil Nadu government, which aimed to put an end to the rumours surrounding Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation and death. However, the “doctor’s” speech only further intensified rumours that Jayalalithaa had been brought dead to the hospital.

A case has been registered under IPC Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 153 (deliberately giving provocative statement with intent to cause riot) and 505 (statement conducive to public mischief).

While police say that the nutritionist never worked with Apollo Hospital, Rama Seetha reportedly said that she had made the speech with the intention of grabbing Deepa’s attention, reports TOI.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital on 22 September with fever and dehydration. A team of doctors from Apollo Hospital together with British intensivist Dr Richard Beale were treating the then CM until her death. Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead on 5 December.