Professor T J Joseph after his hand was chopped by Muslim fundamentalist on July 4, 2010. Photo: Johny Thomas Professor T J Joseph after his hand was chopped by Muslim fundamentalist on July 4, 2010. Photo: Johny Thomas

The wife of a Kerala professor, whose palm was chopped off by a religious group over alleged blasphemy, committed suicide at her house on Wednesday.

The body of 49-year-old Salomi, wife of T.J. Joseph, was found hanging in the bathroom.

She was also the prime witness in the case involving the assault on her husband on July 4, 2010.

Salomi's relatives said she was under severe stress as she feared for her family's security. The family was also going through a financial crisis following Joseph's dismissal from his job.

Joseph was a professor of Malayalam at Thodupuzha Newman College and was suspended and later dismissed after a question paper set by him for second-year B.Com students contained a question that offended religious feelings.

Several organisations protested against the alleged blasphemy and Joseph was arrested under Section 295 of the IPC for causing communal hatred and was suspended from the college.

Later it was found that Joseph had just taken a paragraph from an essay written by filmmaker P.T. Kunju Mohammad, which appeared in the prescribed text, Thirakathayude Rashtrieyam (The Methodology of Screenplay), for adding punctuation marks.

Eight members of Popular Front of India had attacked Joseph and chopped of his palm.

On November 15, 2013, Joseph was acquitted by the court of Thodupuzha Chief Judicial Magistrate and exonerated from the question paper case as it was found that the paper had not been prepared with any intention to hurt religious sentiments.

Teachers' organisations demanded that Joseph be reinstated immediately since he was to retire on March 31, 2014.

It is alleged that his wife committed suicide after the college officials were reluctant to reinstate him.

IndiaToday.in learnt from reliable sources that the college management refrained from taking such a move owing to the fact that Joseph would have to be given his salary and other perks from the day he was dismissed.

Sources say Joseph approached the college management several times after the judgement with a plea to reinstate him as he was the sole breadwinner of his family.

"A case should be registered against college authorities for abetting suicide," said K. Ramkumar, an advocate.

The college authorities said the decision was awaited on the issue and they had not decided against the reinstatement of Joseph.

Salomi's death comes at a time when a trial into case on the attack on her husband was underway.

The National Investigation Authority (NIA) had probed the case.

NIA officials said Salomi was supportive to the prosecution.

There was a threat to her family and there was police protection at Joseph's house.

Salomi's body will be handed over to the family after post-mortem and the funeral will held on Thursday.