London: In yet another incident of accidents in the United States, a tragic road accident killed a bona fide student and a former NITI Aayog member while cycling. However, this time the accident occurred in London, not in the US.
According to Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO, 33-ear-old Cheistha Kochhar, who had earlier worked with the public policy think-thank NITI Aayog, was pursuing her PhD at the London School of Economics.
"Cheistha Kochar worked with me on the #LIFE programme in @NITIAayog. She was in the #Nudge unit and had gone to do her Ph.D. in behavioural science at #LSE. Passed away in a terrible traffic incident while cycling in London. She was bright, brilliant & brave and always full of life. Gone away too early. RIP," Kant wrote on X.
Her father, retired Lieutenant General Dr SP Kochhar, Director General at Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), also shared the tragic news on LinkedIn and said he was still in the UK to collect the mortal remains of her daughter.
According to local media reports, he was hit by a garbage truck on March 19 while she was cycling along with her husband, Prashant, who was ahead of her when the accident occurred. Prashant rushed to her rescue but she died on the spot. The London Evening Standard, quoting the Metropolitan Police, reported the driver of the truck stopped at the accident spot and is currently helping police with enquiries.
The Bareilly-born Behavioural Strategist earned her Masters from the University of Chicago after studying at Ashoka University and Delhi University and completing her schooling in Delhi and various Army schools around India. “She made her mark in all these institutions and is still remembered very fondly for her creativeness, spontaneity, compassion, helpfulness, smiling demeanour and yet excelling in academics and co-curricular activities like debating, drawing and dramatics,” shared her father in his tribute to Cheistha.
“Her heart was at obtaining a doctorate in behavioural science under Org Behaviour from LSE. She got selected with a full scholarship and joined in Sep ’23. She was the only student to be selected for this programme and was working under Prof. Sosa,” he said, describing her sudden death in the road crash on March 19 as a “black day for us and the society”.
Notably, the tragic news came a day after another Indian woman was killed in a road accident in US Pennsylvania on March 21. The Indian mission in New York confirmed the tragic killing of a woman who has been identified as Arshia Joshi. Although the mission did not reveal much details about Joshi but asserted she was a young professional.
Further, condoling the death of the woman, the Indian Embassy said that the officials have contacted her family in India and local community leaders and assured all possible assistance to transport her mortal remains to India at the earliest.
