Car with I-T dept badge fatally hits pregnant woman

CHENNAI: A 28-year-old pregnant woman was fatally knocked down by a car that belongs to an official from the Income Tax department, at Villivakkam on Tuesday afternoon. According to the police, the deceased, Ghousathbivi, of Sevvapet in Tiruvallur, was four-months pregnant, and had come to Villivakkam for a medical checkup.

The incident happened around 1.15 pm when Ghousathbivi was returning home after meeting her husband, Azaruddin, who works at a textile showroom in Rajamangalam.  

“She met her husband after the checkup and was sitting on the pavement near a tea shop in Rangadas Colony, when a car bearing the I-T department’s badge hit a concrete block while taking a turn and then knocked her down, hitting her in the abdomen,” said a traffic police officer.

The woman driving the car fled the spot, while Ghousathbivi was rushed to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, where she was declared brought dead. On information, the Thirumangalam traffic investigation police registered a case and seized the car. A hunt has been launched for the driver.

Speaking to Express, a senior police officer attached to the traffic wing said, “We have contacted the senior I-T officer to whom the car belongs, and he said that it was a relative who was behind the wheel.

The car does not belong to the department, but was utilised for personal use with a department badge on it.”The senior police officer said that the woman behind the wheel did not have a driver’s licence and was practising when the incident happened. The woman is to be arrested on Wednesday, said the police.