Bengali singer Sandhya Mukherjee, died on Tuesday evening after she suffered a cardiac attack, PTI reported, citing an official of a hospital in Kolkata where she had been admitted. She was 90.
The singer had been hospitalised after she fell in the bathroom at her home in Kolkata. While being treated for a fracture, she also tested positive for Covid-19 and was suffering from multi-organ dysfunction, according to PTI.
She was admitted to the intensive care unit after her blood pressure dropped. A hospital official said she suffered a heart attack and could not be revived due to irregular heat beats.
In a career spanning over eight decades, Mukherjee had worked with India’s most eminent music directors.
In January, Mukherjee had refused to accept a Padma Shri award.
An official from the Union government had contacted Mukherjee regarding the Padma Shri award. The singer’s daughter Soumi Sengupta had reportedly told the official that Mukherjee was not willing to be named as a recipient.
“At the age of 90, with a singing career spanning over about eight decades, being chosen for Padma Shri is demeaning for a singer of her stature,” Sengupta had said.
On Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed grief on Mukherjee’s death and said she would end her three-day visit of the state’s northern districts to attend the last rites of the singer.
The chief minister said Mukherjee’s mortal remains would be kept at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan on Wednesday and that she would be accorded a state funeral, according to the PTI report.
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