Indian Journalist Kakoli Bhattacharya Died From COVID-19 At 51

Indian journalist Kakoli Bhattacharya died from Covid-19 in Delhi on April 23. Reportedly, the 51-year-old journalist has worked with every Guardian correspondent in south Asia since 2009.

The second wave of the outspread of the virus has already claimed thousands of lives and the new strain of the virus has been reported to be more dangerous than the one spreading last year. Bhattacharya fell victim to the same last week. Although she was moved to the hospital when her oxygen levels worsened, she died last Friday.

Born on 16 May 1969 to a professor father and homemaker mother, Bhattacharya hails from Delhi. After graduating from Delhi University with a bachelor of arts degree, she started working in journalism in the 1990s with reporters from international publications and TV channels including the BBC.

Kakoli Bhattacharya's Professional Life

The Guardian’s South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen said on Bhattacharya's death, "Kakoli was a brilliant journalist and indispensable part of the Guardian’s India coverage for over a decade. She had the best contact book in the business and reporting with her was always a joy. She will be so greatly missed."

Former Delhi correspondent for the Guardian Michael Safi said "There was barely a story we produced from India that didn’t have Kakoli’s fingerprints on it. She was a brilliant journalist who was remarkably resourceful and could talk her way past anyone. More than that, she was a truly generous person – humble, kind and loyal.”

Bhattacharya has also worked for the French daily Le Monde for a decade following which she moved to the British News and Media website. She was passionate about the welfare and education of Indian girls and contributed her platform for the same. She devoted much of the final years of her life to her daughter's badminton career, accompanying her to training and state-level tournaments across India and dreamt of seeing her compete at the Olympics, her obituary said.