Senior journalist Vinod Dua passed away on Saturday, December 4. He was admitted to a hospital on Monday, November 29, after his health became critical. The 67-year-old journalist was moved to the Intensive Care Unit of Apollo Hospital on the advice of doctors. Dua had been hospitalised with COVID-19 earlier this year, and had lost his wife, radiologist Padmavati 'Chinna' Dua, to the virus in June. His daughter, actor-comic Mallika Dua, who has been sharing updates on his condition on Instagram, announced his passing on December 4.
“Our irreverent, fearless and extraordinary father, Vinod Dua has passed away. He lived an inimitable life, rising from the refugee colonies of Delhi to the peak of journalistic excellence for over 42 years, always, always, speaking truth to power. He is now with our mom, his beloved wife Chinna in heaven where they will continue to sing, cook, travel and drive each other up the wall,” Mallika wrote on Instagram. The cremation will take place at noon on December 5, Sunday, at Lodhi crematorium, she said.
Vinod Dua and his wife were admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon when the second wave of COVID-19 was at its peak. The journalist's health has suffered ever since and he has been in and out of hospitals.
The couple is survived by Mallika Dua and their elder daughter Bakul Dua, a clinical psychologist.
Vinod Dua was regarded as an important figure in Indian broadcast journalism. He worked with Doordarshan and NDTV, and won the Ramnath Goenka Award in 1996, becoming the first electronic media journalist to win the accolade. He also won the Padma Shri in 2008 for his journalism.
However, in 2018, he was embroiled in controversy after filmmaker Nishtha Jain accused him of sexual harassing her 30 years ago, claiming that he passed “lewd” comments at her. He refuted the allegation and his daughter Mallika Dua said that she would “stand by her father”.