Son of Kerala HC judge dies in road accident

The son of a sitting judge of the Kerala High Court has died in a collision between two bikes on Sudduguntepalya main road in Mico Layout here, the police said.

Anand Mathew, 20, son of Justice Babu Mathew P Joseph, was grievously injured, when the bike he was riding pillion on, collided head-on with another two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction around 10.45 pm on Monday. His classmate, named Prince, a native of Idukki, Kerala, was riding the bike.

As the bike reached the Sudduguntepalya main road, Prince overtook a vehicle from the right side and crashed his motorcycle into another two-wheeler. The crash was so powerful that Mathew was tossed up in the air. He then crashed down and suffered serious head injuries. Prince escaped with minor injuries, so did Balaji, the rider of the other bike, the police said.

Passersby rushed the three men to a nearby hospital where Prince and Balaji were treated as outpatients. Mathew, however, was moved to the St John’s Medical College Hospital where doctors could not revive him and he succumbed to the injuries around 2.45 am on Tuesday, the police added.

Mathew, a native of Kochi, was a student of fourth year law programme at Christ University and was staying at a hostel in SJ Palya near Taverekere here. His parents, who were informed about the tragedy, rushed to Bengaluru and took the body to their native place after the post-mortem.

A senior police officer said that it was nothing but rash driving and speeding that led to the accident. “Both the riders were wearing helmets which saved their lives. None of them was drunk.”

M A Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said he and Justice Joseph had visited the accident site. “We have called a few eyewitness for questioning to ascertain how exactly the accident took place. The two injured riders will be questioned too.”

Prayer meeting
Meanwhile, law students held a prayer meeting at Christ University on Tuesday. Mathew’s classmates said the accident was tragic.

 “He came out as a responsible person. He was good at academics and was interested in street plays too. He had taken part in several street plays,” one of them said.

According to the classmates, after having dinner, Prince told Mathew he would drop him at his hostel. “We are told Prince was speeding and crashed his bike into another two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction. We have no idea how exactly the incident took place. We learnt about it late at  night and rushed to the hospital. Then came the tragic news that Anand was no more,” the classmate added.

A case has been registered at the Mico Layout traffic police station and investigation is being carried out.