Kerala woman politician dies in road accident in UAE

A 40-year-old Indian woman politician died in a tragic accident after falling from a moving car and hitting her head on a lamppost in Sharjah, a media report said today.
Sunitha Prashanth, who hails from Kerala's Kasaragod district, died on the spot on Tuesday, Khaleej Times reported.
Sunitha, who had been working as a beautician in a salon in Sharjah for the last five years, was a councillor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kasaragod municipality and was a candidate in the Uduma constituency during the state assembly polls in 2011, said Ganesh Aramanganam, president of Indian People's Forum in Sharjah.

She lived along with other colleagues in an apartment in the same building housing the salon, Ganesh said.
"On Tuesday, as there was pesticide sprayed in their flat, they were advised to stay away for some three hours. So the owner of the salon took all the staff in her car on a trip.
"As they were travelling on Dhaid Road, the car's door opened and Sunitha fell out of the car. Unfortunately, her head hit on a lamppost and died on the spot," the report said, quoting sources as saying.

The owner of the salon, who was driving the car, looked back to see what happened, the vehicle swerved off the road and crashed into the divider, injuring all others in the car, Ganesh said.

The woman owner of the salon has been detained by the police, Ganesh said, adding that Sunitha's body is in the morgue of Dhaid Hospital.
"Her head was totally smashed up on impact," he added.
Sunitha was very active in Kerala politics and chose to come to the UAE five years ago due to her family's financial issues after she got the job offer through a friend.
In Sharjah, she used to attend the meetings of the Indian People's Forum. She is survived by husband and two children.
"Her husband was in Kerala, but came here on a three- month visit last month. He was staying in a room in Bur Dubai," Ganesh said.

The body will be repatriated to her hometown once the legal formalities are over, he added.