Veteran journalist Vinod Dua `beyond critical` in ICU, says daughter Mallika

He was hospitalised with Covid earlier this year.

New Delhi: Veteran journalist Vinod Dua, who was hospitalised with Covid earlier this year, is in the ICU and his condition is "beyond critical", his daughter, actor-comic Mallika Dua, said on Monday.

The 67-year-old 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.

"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.

Vinod Dua and his wife were in a hospital in Gurgaon when the second Covid 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.