Veteran journalist Vinod Dua critical, daughter rejects reports of demise

Senior journalist Vinod Dua, who is in the ICU, is critical, his daughter, actor-comic Mallika Dua, said on Monday. Dua was admitted to the hospital earlier this year after being infected with the coronavirus.

Mallika also rejected the reports about her father's demise. She informed that Vinod Dua is still in ICU.

Earlier in the day, Mallika had said her father's condition was 'beyond critical'.

"My Papaji is beyond critical in the ICU. His health had been deteriorating rapidly since April. He also is unable to come to terms with losing the light of his life. He has lived an extraordinary life and given us the same. He deserves no pain. He is immensely loved and revered and I request you all to pray that he experiences as little pain as possible," Mallika Dua wrote.

The journalist, a pioneer in broadcast Hindi journalism with stints in Doordarshan and NDTV, lost his wife, radiologist Padmavati 'Chinna' Dua, in June after a prolonged battle with Covid.

Vinod Dua and his wife were in a hospital in Gurgaon when the second COVID-19 wave was at its peak. The journalist's health has suffered ever since and he has been in and out of hospitals.

The couple is also parents to elder daughter Bakul Dua, a clinical psychologist.

(With PTI inputs)