THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI Special Court has awarded life sentence to Fr Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy in the sensational Sister Abhaya murder case. The Court has also imposed a fine of Rs six-and-a-half lakh on Kottoor and five lakh on Sephy. Fr Kotoor was imposed fine for murder, destruction of evidence and tresspassing while Sr Sephy was imposed fine for murder and destruction of evidence.
The prosecution argued for death sentence. It pointed out that it's a rare case where a nun and a priest joined hands to murder another nun.
The CBI special court here the other day had found Fr Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy guilty of murdering Sister Abhaya. Justice Sunil Kumar pronounced the verdict 29 years after Abhaya was found dead in the well of Pius X Convent in Kottayam. The court had also found Kottoor guilty for trespassing and destruction of evidence, while Sephy was proved guilty for destruction of evidence.
The 19-year-old Knanaya Catholic nun, a member of the St Joseph's Congregation, was a pre-degree student at BCM College in Kottayam when the incident happened. The local police and the Crime Branch had termed the incident as suicide and it took four CBI probes and a series of judicial interventions to cast away their theory.
The probe headed by then CBI Kochi unit DSP Nandakumar Nair concluded that Abhaya's was a cold-blooded murder committed by two priests and a nun to cover-up their illicit relationship.
The CBI finding was that Abhaya had gone to the kitchen of the convent for fetching water and happened to see Fr Thomas Kottoor, Fr Jose Poothrikkayil and Sister Sephy in a compromising position. Fearing for their reputation, Sephy bludgeoned Abhaya with an axe and threw her into the well with the help of the two priests.
The case had created quite a furore as fingers were pointed at the Church authorities for trying to shield the accused clergymen and the nun. The Church, on its part, maintained that the CBI allegations and arrests of the priests and the nun were intended to damage its image. It tried to mobilise the faithful against the central agency's 'highhandedness'.
The case had political implications too as it was rumoured that a senior politician based out of central Kerala went out of the way to sabotage the probe. It was the Abhaya Case Action Council, a body floated by social activists, which stood up against the Church, questioned the suicide theory and pressed the government for a CBI probe.
The investigation by the agency revealed that the state police had deliberately destroyed key evidence such as Abhaya’s robe and diary. Even after the CBI took over the case, the action council remained vigilant to ensure that the probe does not get derailed.
Apart from the nature of the case, the lengthy legal procedures also made the case a notable one. The CBI chargesheeted the accused in 2009 and, two years later, the accused moved a discharge petition in the court. This plea took nine years to reach a conclusion as the court discharged Poothrikkayil while rejecting the petitions of the other two.
The trial in the case started at the CBI court in August 2019 and the accused later requested to stall the proceedings citing COVID scare. However, this plea was junked by the court. The prosecution had produced 49 witnesses in the court.