28 Years After Murder of Kerala's Sister Abhaya, CBI Court Holds Priest, Nun Guilty of Crime
22-December-2020

ACBI court in Thiruvanathapuram has found two people guilty of the murder of Sister Abhaya, 28 years after the crime.

Father Thomas Kottur and Sister Sephy were found guilty of murder and destruction of evidence. The quantum of sentence will be announced on Wednesday.

Sister Abhaya, 21, was found dead in the well of Pius X convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992.

Another accused, Father Jose Poothrikkayil was discharged in March 2018 by CBI court following his discharge plea.

The prosecution case is that the accused struck a fatal blow to Sister Abhaya's head with a blunt object after she saw the accused in a compromising position. She was then thrown into the well of the convent to make it look like a suicide.

The CBI charges against the accused are for IPC 302 for murder and IPC 201 for destroying evidence. Nine witnesses had turned hostile, including many who earlier said 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 chargesheet in 2009, mainly on the basis of scientific evidence like the narco test.

The local police and crime branch probe had earlier stated that the case was death by suicide.

The case was transferred to CBI in 1993 followed by protests by action council and petition by human rights activist Jomon Puthenpurackal.

The court had earlier rejected three reports of CBI and wanted more probe into the suspicious circumstances.