The two prime accused found guilty of killing teenaged nun Sister Abhaya have been sentenced to life imprisonment, almost 28 years after the gruesome murder shook the country.
The punishment for the duo in the longest-running investigation was pronounced by CBI special court judge K Sanal Kumar who also slapped a penalty of five lakh rupees on the two convicts.
Twenty-one-year-old sister Abhaya was found dead in the well of Pius X convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. The first accused priest, father Thomas Kottoor, and third accused sister Sephy faced trial.
The second accused, father Jose Poothrikkayil, was discharged in March 2018 by CBI court following his plea.
The state police had initially concluded Sister Abhaya, a student of Kottayam’s BCM College, and a member of the Knanaya Catholic community died by suicide on March 27, 1992. This was as she went from her hostel room to the kitchen at around 4.15 AM.
The case was handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after protests led by activist Jomon Puthanpurakkal, whose campaign sought justice for the nun as the church stood by the accused. The Knanaya Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam is an eparchy of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church for Knanaya Catholics.
In the first of its three reports in the case, the CBI said the nun’s death was a case of “homicidal suicide”. But the CBI court rejected the report and ordered a fresh investigation. In its second report, the agency said it could not establish beyond doubt whether it was a suicide or murder.
In its last report filed in 2008, the CBI said it was a case of murder and arrested Kottoor, Jose Poothrukayil, (another priest) and Sefi. Kottoor taught Sister Abhaya psychology at Kottayam’s BCM College and was also Secretary to the then Bishop. He later became the Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese in Kottayam.
The CBI charged the trio with the nun’s murder, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. Jose Poothrukayil was exonerated last year after the court found no evidence against him.
The accused had struck a fatal blow to sister Abhaya’s head with a blunt object when she entered the kitchen of the convent and saw the accused in a compromising position. She was thrown into the well of the convent to make it look like a suicide.
The CBI charges against the accused are for IPC 302 (murder) and IPC 201 (destroying evidence). Nine witnesses had turned hostile, many were inmates of the nun who had earlier given statement that they saw the kitchen was disturbed. A total of 49 witnesses were examined.
The accused Catholic priests and nun were even subjected to narco analysis test. The CBI filed charge sheet on July 17, 2009 mainly on the basis of scientific evidences like Narco Analysis test.
The court had earlier rejected three reports of CBI and wanted more probe into the suspicious circumstances.
According to the CBI charge-sheet, the slain nun had witnessed “some sexual activity” and she was killed because they feared she may disclose the scene. It said the accused allegedly hit Sister Abhaya with a blunt object and later threw ther into the well between 4:15 AM and 5 AM on March 27, 1992.
DySP Varghese P Thomas, who investigated the case, resigned from CBI alleging that he was under immense pressure by his seniors to conclude it was a suicide. According to him, the nun was hit by a blunt object on the head. “The verdict was delayed due to the intervention of the Church and the politicians,” he told media on Tuesday.
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