Nurse Caught in Royal Prank Buried in India

Rafiq Maqbool/Associated PressFamily members and well wishers at the funeral of Indian-born nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, at her hometown Mangalore, Karnataka, on Monday.

Jacintha Saldanha, the Indian-born nurse who was found hanging in her room after she answered a prank call about the Duchess of Cambridge's medical care at a London hospital, was buried in her hometown of Shirva in Karnataka on Monday.

Mourners gathered at Our Lady of Health Church to pay their respects to Ms. Saldanha, whose body was flown in from Britain on Sunday. Her husband and teenage son and daughter were joined by relatives and friends at their family home, followed by a prayer service at the church.

Ms. Saldanha's death, which is being investigated as a suicide, followed a prank call to the King Edward VII Hospital in London by two Australian radio disc jockeys, who impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to get details on the health of Prince William's pregnant wife, Kate Middleton, who was being treated for morning sickness.

Ms. Saldanha answered the phone and put it through to another nurse, who then disclosed confidential details about the Duchess of Cambridge's condition. News of the prank spread throughout the world on social media sites.

The episode took a tragic turn when three days later, Ms. Saldanha, 46, was found dead, leaving behind many unanswered questions about what prompted her to take such a drastic step.

There is no information about the events leading up to her death, said the Labor politician Keith Vaz, who has demanded a “proper inquiry” on behalf of Ms. Saldanha's family. “The call clearly had a big effect on her,” he said to an Indian TV channel.

This incident has led to a debate on the ethics of media pranks, with some accusing the radio presenters of the Australian station, 2day FM, of going too far. In an emotional interview on an Australian TV network, the radio jockeys, Michael Christian and Mel Greig, apologized, but Mr. Christian said that no one “could have expected or foreseen what was going to happen.”

“It was completely innocent,” said Mr. Christian.

Their show has been discontinued, according to a note on the company's Web site, “until further notice, out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy.”

Questions are also being raised about the hospital's handling of the hoax call. An inquest into the death is expected to find out if Ms. Saldanha was reprimanded or ridiculed by her seniors and colleagues at the hospital for responding to the prank call rather than reporting it.

Investigators have reportedly found three notes written by Ms. Saldanha that blame the radio presenters for the joke and are critical of some hospital officials. The hospital has said that no senior member of the staff blamed Ms. Saldanha for falling for the prank, and that no disciplinary proceedings were initiated.