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By Sahar Adatia and Jimmy Singh.
It’s a hard pill to swallow to contemplate that you could be poisoned by your very own partner.
But this was the frightening reality check for a Sydney woman who lay unconscious for eight hours after allegedly being poisoned by her nurse husband in their western suburbs home.
Luckily, the woman managed to regain consciousness and alerted the police of what had happened to her.
She now feels disgusted and shocked by her husband’s malicious actions, who has admitted to slapping her across the face after she confronted him about the incident.
How the Woman Came to be Poisoned by her Husband
According to a statement released by NSW Police, at around 11am on 5 May 2020, Ugendra Singh, who is an intensive care nurse at Liverpool hospital in Sydney, administered what he claimed to be a saline drip to his wife, Joytika Lata, after concerns the 38-year-old woman was dehydrated.
However, after Mr Singh dispensed the drip, Ms Lata became unconscious for a period of eight hours in their Dale Grove home at Hebersham.
When the woman woke up around 7pm, she called the police to report the incident.
Officers from Mt Druitt Police Area Command soon appeared at the home and were told of the nurse’s proceedings.
NSW Ambulance paramedics also arrived at the scene where they attended to the woman.
She was treated in her home by paramedics before being transported to Blacktown Hospital for further treatment.
Crime Scene Established at Hebersham Home
The alarming incident left the home of Mr Singh and Ms Lata a crime scene, where officers seized several vials of Propofol along with medical equipment.
Propofol is the same drug that was administered to Michael Jackson before his death.
The 45-year-old nurse was taken to Mt Druitt Police Station where he was charged with four offences, including using poison to endanger life, possess/attempt to prescribed restricted substance, common assault and larceny.
Police allege the man stole the items from his workplace.
The man was refused bail.
Woman Feels “Disgusted” and “Shocked” by Husband’s Actions; Husband Slaps Wife Across Face After Confronting Him
In the aftermath of the terrifying incident, Ms Lata spoke out about the devastation she felt of her alleged poisoning by her healthcare worker husband of 19 years.
Speaking to 9News, Ms Lata said she felt “disgusted, shocked and stunned” that her husband could perform such an act.
“It could have taken my life,” Ms Lata said of being left disorientated and blacking out.
“I didn’t expect this from 19 years of marriage to this guy.”
Ms Lata also told reporters she had asked her husband to take her to the hospital after expressing that she felt very dehydrated, however he instead decided to take matters into his own hands.
“He said because of the COVID thing, it’s not safe to go to the hospital,” Ms Lata said.
It is alleged that when Ms Lata confronted her husband about the matter, the pair ended up in a violent argument.
A court has since heard Mr Singh admitted to slapping his wife across the face in response.
In NSW, the crime of using poison to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm is taken very seriously by the courts and thus the penalties are severe to reflect the seriousness of this.
Section 39 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) prescribes a penalty of up to ten years behind bars for using poison to either inflict grievous bodily harm or endanger life in NSW.
This offence occurs if:
- You administer or cause a person to take poison, intoxicating substance or any other destructive or noxious thing; and
- Such substance either endangers that person’s life or causes that person grievous bodily harm; and
- You intended to either injure that person or you realised the possibility of injuring that person but did it anyway.
Here, “grievous bodily harm” refers to really serious harm, and also includes internal organ damage.
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