Priest, nun found guilty in sister Abhaya murder case

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22

Twenty eight years after the mysterious death of Sister Abhaya, an inmate of St Pius convent at Kottayam in Kerala, a CBI special court here on Tuesday held it was a case of murder and found a priest and nun guilty of killing her.

Hacked 28 yrs ago

• Abhaya’s body was found in the well of St Pius convent at Kottayam on March 27, 1992
• Priests Kottoor and Poothrikkayil allegedly had illicit ties with Sephy, also an inmate of the convent
• he trio hacked Abhaya to death after she saw Kottoor and Sephy in a compromising position

The court held that Fr Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy of the Catholic Church were guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (tampering of evidence). The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Wednesday.

A second year college student who was staying at the convent, 22-year-old Abhaya’s body was found in the well of St Pius convent. Another accused in the case, Fr Jose Poothrikkayil, was discharged due to lack of evidence. The CBI, which took over probe on March 29, 1993, filed three closure reports, saying though it was a case of murder, the culprits could not be found. On September 4, 2008, the Kerala High Court came down heavily on the CBI, saying the agency was “still a prisoner of those who wielded political and bureaucratic power”. It directed the Delhi CBI unit hand over the probe to its Kochi counterpart. Following this, the CBI arrested the two priests and the nun in 2008. — PTI