M C Josephine, 74, one of the CPM's most prominent female leaders, died in a Kannur hospital. Josephine, the former chairperson of Kerala Women's Commission and a member of the CPM central committee, collapsed on Saturday at the CPM party congress venue in Kannur after suffering a heart attack. She was transported to Kannur's AKG Hospital, where she died on Sunday afternoon.
From 2017 until 2021, Josephine presided over the Kerala Women's Commission as chairwoman. She was previously the head of the Greater Cochin Development Authority and the Kerala State Women's Development Corporation.
Josephine served on the Angamaly Municipal Council for 13 years. She stood for the Lok Sabha in 1989 from the Idukki constituency, as well as the Kerala legislative assembly from Angamaly in 1987, Mattanchery in 2006, and Kochi in 2011. She had also served as the All India Democratic Women's Association's national vice-president and state president.
The woman leader was involved in numerous scandals, one of which cost her the position of chairperson of the Women's Commission. She was compelled to resign with only nine months left on her contract after a controversy erupted over her disrespectful statements to a victim of domestic violence during a live television phone-in show.
When a CPM MLA was accused of sexual abuse by a female DYFI member in 2018, Josephine commented that the CPM has a process in place to deal with such allegations, causing controversy. The CPM's top leadership paid their tributes at the hospital while in Kannur for the party congress. In a procession led by party workers, the body was carried to Angamaly. On Monday, the body will be delivered to Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, for medical teaching reasons, as per Josephine's wish.
