BBC Radio 6 Music producer and presenter, 39, dies after she was hit by a train in what her grieving family have called ‘a tragic accident’ 15 years after her brother’s death from a drugs overdose
- Kelly Jobanputra, 39, died after being hit on railway line last Friday afternoon
- She left home in Swindon to go shopping but was killed in ‘tragic accident’
- Second ‘devastating loss’ for family after her brother Corrie died 15 years ago
- Mrs Jobanputra worked for local BBC stations before moving to Radio 6 Music
A BBC radio presenter has died after being hit by a train in what her grieving family believe was a ‘tragic accident’.
Journalist Kelly Jobanputra, 39, from Swindon, Wiltshire, left home last Friday afternoon to go shopping but never returned.
She died after being hit on the line between Swindon and Didcot Parkway at around 3pm.
It is the second tragedy her devastated family have had to endure after her brother Corrie Stooke died 15 years ago aged 31 from an accidental heroin overdose, which relatives described as ‘equally-distressing circumstances’.
Mrs Jobanputra, married to husband Vikesh, spent 15 years presenting on local BBC radio stations before heading to London to produce a daytime show for Radio 6 Music.
Journalist Kelly Jobanputra, 39, pictured, from Swindon, Wiltshire, died last Friday after being hit by a train
Mrs Jobanputra, pictured with husband Vikesh, had been in ‘good spirits’ on the day of her death according to her family and had gone out to do some shopping in Asda
The death is the second tragedy the family has had to endure after the presenter’s (right) brother Corrie Stooke (left) died of an accidental drugs overdose in 2004 aged 31
Better known at the time under her maiden name of Kelly Stooke, which she often used as a byline even after she got married, she regularly wrote reviews for the Swindon Advertiser and freelanced for the website 365 Bristol.
She also wrote on Swindon Web as the Mum About Town, briefly presented a show on Ujima FM Radio in Bristol, and worked in the marketing group at the British Computing Society before her death.
Her father John Stooke said: ‘We are completely and utterly bereft to lose such a vibrant, attractive, courageous and well-loved family member at such a very young age.
‘She was in good spirits when she left at lunchtime to go to Asda.
‘It seems that, whilst the circumstances are not at all clear, this may well have been, in the end, an unintended and tragic accident.
‘Our thoughts are not solely with the devastation to our own family. We also believe the train driver was naturally traumatised and he or she also remains very much in our thoughts and prayers.’
An inquest into the cause and circumstances of Mrs Jobanputra’s death will be held at a later date.
According to relatives, she was planning to consolidate some of her projects through the fledgling KMAJ Media company.
Mrs Jobanputra is pictured left in a family photo with brother Corrie, centre, and mother Danusia, right
Mrs Jobanputra, pictured with Take That singer Mark Owen, worked as a presenter on local BBC radio stations for 15 years before going to work as a producer for BBC Radio 6 Music
The radio presenter, pictured with her husband, lost her brother Corrie 15 years ago after he died of an accidental drug overdose
The family have asked to be left alone while they grieve for Mrs Jobanputra and asked for speculation about how her life ended to be avoided until the inquest establishes the facts of the incident.
All lines were closed between the two stations for several hours while emergency services attended the incident.
An inquest in 2004 ruled her brother’s death was accidental after an overdose of heroin.
Witnesses said Mr Stooke had been taking drugs with friends and then collapsed in a kitchen in a property in Swindon.
His friends moved him to a sofa but the inquest heard he never regained consciousness.
At the time his father John spoke out and warned others of the dangers of heroin and said it would ‘inflict its torture on anyone who goes near it’.
The family have asked people not to speculate on the death until an inquest has investigated the circumstances. Mrs Jobanputra is pictured with husband Vikesh
Source: Read Full Article