THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a crime that sent shockwaves through the serene town of Pala. On September 17, 2015, Sr Amala, a 69-year-old nun, was found dead in her retirement quarters at the Lisieux Carmelite Convent. What initially appeared to be a natural death soon unravelled into chilling tales of murder, theft, and sexual assault.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, a police officer, who was part of the probe, walks us through the investigation. “Sr Amala’s death was initially reported as a tragic accident,” he recalls.
“She was running a fever, and the initial assumption was that she had fallen and hit her head. By the time we arrived, the body had been cleaned and dressed in burial garments – standard practice for natural deaths in convents.”
But something about the scene didn’t sit right with the doctor who declared her dead. “The impact on her head wasn’t consistent with a fall. It looked more like a blow from a sharp object,” the officer says. “That’s when we knew we were dealing with something sinister.”
The body was sent for post-mortem, and the findings were grim. “It wasn’t just a murder; the nun had been sexually assaulted,” the officer adds. “We began combing the crime scene for evidence. It was clear that the intruder knew the building well. His point of entry was a grille door on third floor, where clothes were hung to dry.”
The forensic team, meanwhile, determined that the fatal wound was inflicted with an axe. “We knew we were dealing with an extremely dangerous predator with a modus operandi,” the officer says.
Tracking the killer
The probe hit a roadblock as the police could not narrow down on a suspect. “We sent out teams with sniffer dogs and also tracked two mobile phones that were missing from the nun’s room,” says the officer.
Then came a turning point. Sniffer dogs led the probe team to a toddy shop about 1.5km from the convent. When the city was alerted about the investigation, a young man at a toddy shop started to act weird. Staff and customers told the police that a man had abruptly shunted out of the shop on hearing that the dog squad was at the convent.
“The cashier said the man left without even collecting his `100 change. That raised suspicion,” the officer recalls.
“Some customers identified him as Satheesh Babu, a 38-year-old man, who had migrated to Pala in search of work. None knew his address.” Meanwhile, the cyber cell alerted the probe team that a SIM card had been activated in one of the stolen mobile phones. The SIM details led officers to Suresh’s home in Kasaragod.
“His brother spoke of Satheesh’s violent, perverse tendencies. He had a history of domestic violence. Just months after his marriage, he hit his wife with a rod, leading to their divorce within a year. He was caught peeping into convents — a habit that forced him to leave his hometown.”
The probe, however, hit a dead end as the family was clueless about Satheesh’s whereabouts. A week later, his brother received a cryptic text: “Your brother is in Haridwar.”
It came from the head of an ashram in Haridwar, where Satheesh had been hiding. It was sent as part of the ashram’s policy to inform families of people who seek to stay there.
“In the meantime, Satheesh made a mistake by using one of the stolen phones to make a call to his brother to seek money,” says the officer. “We alerted the Haridwar police, and took the next flight from Kerala.”
When the probe team and local police arrived at the ashram, they learned Satheesh was on a trip to Rishikesh. “He had left his belongings in his room, so we were certain that he would return,” says the officer. “The chase came to a dramatic end when he walked into the room to find it full of officers.”
During interrogation, Satheesh confessed to sexual assault, theft and murder of Sr Amala. He confessed to another murder as well — Sr Jose Maria, 81, of the Sacred Heart Convent at Chettuthodu in Kottayam. “Her death had been ruled natural, but examination of exhumed remains revealed she had been killed with an iron rod,” the officer recalls.
Satheesh was eventually linked to 21 crimes at Catholic convents across Kerala.
In the Sr Amala case, the Pala Sessions Court sentenced Satheesh to double life imprisonment for murder, 10 years for rape, and imposed a fine of Rs 2,10,000 for theft. However, last year, the High Court overturned the rape conviction due to insufficient evidence regarding the timing of the assault.
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