Appeal after student's death raises £18,000

A fundraising appeal has raised thousands of pounds after the death of an international student who was struck by a car in Birmingham.

Anisha Chakraborty, 28, died following the collision on 30 May, leaving her family in India facing the prospect of either bringing her body home or arranging a funeral in the UK.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving under the influence of drugs. He was later released on bail while enquiries continue.

The appeal was launched by Shefali Karulkar, manager of Jimmy Spices, where Chakraborty worked alongside a close-knit team of colleagues.

"She was a lovely person, she was exceptionally driven and she always wanted to be independent, that was the whole point that she decided to come to the UK and study over here", Karulkar said.

Karulkar added that her staff had been left devastated by the loss of their colleague and friend.

"We received the news [on] Sunday morning but I could not tell my staff until the end of the day, because I had to gather the courage myself.

"It was devastating. A lot of people had a breakdown in the restaurant," she said.

The fundraiser was set up to help cover the costs of repatriating Chakraborty's body to India or, if not possible, arranging funeral costs in the UK.

More than £18,000 has already been raised.

Karulkar said Chakraborty's family had been struggling to deal with the tragedy from thousands of miles away.

"It's absolutely horrible to be thousands of miles away from your family and not knowing what's going to happen the next day.

"It's extremely devastating.

"There are a lot of formalities and documentation that needs to be done just to see her, and that's never going to be easy when you're miles apart."

Her former boss described the 28-year-old as a valued member of the team who wanted to build a future.

"She was so driven, and she was so hardworking that even when her parents had funded her education, she decided to pay them back.

"She never wanted things handed to her and worked incredibly hard to achieve all her goals."

The appeal organisers said they hoped the fundraising effort would help ease some of the practical burdens facing the family while allowing them to honour her memory.

"We want to honour her the best way that we can."

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