: R.I. Viji, 34, Assistant Professor at the Central University of Kerala (CUK), was killed and her husband, V.B. Sameer Kumar, 34, injured in a car accident near Kodungalloor in Thrissur district early Thursday.
They were on their way to Kasaragod when the car rammed a wayside tree along the National Highway 66 at Sri Narayanapuram, 7 km from Kodungallur town, at 3.30 a.m..
The police rushed them to a hospital in Kodungallur, but Dr. Viji was declared “brought dead” by the hospital authorities.
The couple was returning to Kasaragod from Thiruvananthapuram, their hometown, after attending a science conference at the University of Kerala.
Dr. Kumar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Central University, suffered minor injuries. Dr. Viji, a faculty member of the Department of Plant Science, leaves behind a three-year-old daughter and a two-year-old
son.
The body was taken to Thiruvananthapuram after autopsy at the Kodungallor Government Hospital, the police said.
At an emergency meeting convened on the Periye campus of the university, Vice Chancellor G. Gopakumar condoled the demise of Dr. Viji.
