Miss Kerala 2019 and the Miss Kerala 2019 runner-up died in a car accident on the Vyttila-Palarivattom Bypass in Kochi in the wee hours of Monday, November 1. Ansi Kabeer, who had won the Miss Kerala 2019 and Miss South India 2021 titles, and Miss Kerala 2019 runner-up Anjana Shajan died on the spot after the car in which they were travelling lost control when trying to avoid a two-wheeler and rammed into a tree.

The incident happened near Holiday Inn hotel in Chakkaraparambu. Two men who were also in the car have been seriously injured and have been admitted to the Ernakulam Medical Centre (EMC), Palarivattom. The two-wheeler riders escaped with minor bruises.

Ansi is from Alamcode in Thiruvananthapuram district and Anjana is from Thrissur. Ansi had just won the Miss South India 2021 title in August this year.

Police said that the incident happened around 1.30 am. Police said that the car was speeding and the driver could have lost control after seeing the two-wheeler and trying to avoid it. The bodies of the two women have been kept at EMC.

Ansi was the youngest among the 14 contestants from the five South Indian states in the beauty pageant organised by Pegasus Global Pvt Ltd in August. She started her modelling career in 2018 and started getting noticed after winning the Miss Kerala title in 2019.

“I come from an orthodox Muslim family. I started getting positive responses after I won the Miss Kerala title. Through the beauty pageants, I expect to make society realise that a woman has dreams and shouldn’t be confined to the concept of marriage (sic),” she told The New Indian Express in an interview given after winning the Miss South India title.

Anjana was also pursuing a career in modelling after winning the Miss Kerala runner-up title.