A 53-year-old woman died on Sunday, January 29, at the Kovalam bypass in Thiruvananthapuram after being hit by a speeding two-wheeler allegedly indulging in illegal bike racing, police said. The woman, identified as Sindhu, had gone out for a morning walk when the accident happened, according to The New Indian Express. According to an officer of Thiruvallam police station, the incident occurred around 7 am when the woman was crossing the bypass road to the other side. The officer said that the bike rider was also seriously injured in the accident and was admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college.
A case under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code was registered, she said. Meanwhile, local residents of the area said they heard a loud crash in the morning and upon checking, found the woman dead near the road divider, while the bike rider was found about 100 metres further away in a ditch on the roadside.
"The woman was not moving, but the bike rider showed some movement," a local resident told a TV channel. Another resident claimed that incidents of bike racing are frequent in the area during the early morning hours when there is no police presence. Police, on the other hand, said they had not received any complaints of frequent incidents of bike racing in that area.