The grieving relatives of a new father who was killed after being struck by a lorry have paid tribute to a “true family man” and are appealing to witnesses to come forward with any information.
Beju Shah, 46, from Harrow Weald, was hit by a reversing lorry while riding his moped on his way to work on the morning of January 5.
He was taken by air ambulance to St. George’s Hospital in Tooting, but tragically died two days later on January 7.
The collision took place on Traps Lane in Kingston, near the junction with Coombe Lane West.
Shah, who had an eight-month-old son, lived in Eldoret, Kenya before moving to London in 2007.
He had been married to his wife Jalpa, 34, for twelve years and recently celebrated the birth of their first son, Niam.
Shah’s cousin, Jiten Malde, paid tribute to his relative, describing him as a “very humble and devoted man”.
He told Eastern Eye: “He was very devoted to both his work and his family, who all depended on him. He has an elderly mother, a young wife and an eight-month-old son.
“He was the main breadwinner of the family and [his passing] has sadly taken the foundations of his family out from underneath them.”
Shah began working as a traffic officer for NSL Services, which enforces traffic fines on behalf of Kingston Council, in 2007.
Malde released a picture of Shah with his wife, son and mother to Eastern Eye which was taken six days before his death.
He said the image of a happy family was how he would be remembered, as a “happy, dedicated, caring and loving husband, son and father, who was the main breadwinner for his family.”
Malde added: “As a family we are devastated by our loss and are making a heartfelt plea for eyewitnesses to come forward. We are desperate to know the truth about how this collision occurred.”
A prayer service for Shah was held on January 8 at the Ekta Centre in Kingsbury. His devastated wife Jalpa, son Niam and mother Jayaben, 78, visited the site of the collision last Sunday (15) to lay flowers in his memory.
As of Tuesday (17), the family had still not received the coroner’s report into his death, leaving them without closure and unable to arrange Shah’s funeral and cremation.
“Everyone is still coming to terms with the shock and we’re still waiting for [the police report] so we can know what happened,” Malde said.
“Today is day ten and we still have no idea when we can prepare or start planning for the funeral and the wake. We don’t know when the coroner is going to release the body.”
The Metropolitan Police said the driver of the lorry stopped at the scene of the collision and no arrests have been made.
Scotland Yard said that they were continuing with their enquiries.
Shah’s family is asking anyone with information regarding the collision to contact detective sergeant Ranjit Sethon at the Serious Collision Unit at 0208 543 5157.
Kamal Pankhania
