Sr Abhaya Murder case:See how religion played all games to delay the case

In a setback to the CBI probing the murder of Catholic nun Sr Abhaya, a Special CBI Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday exempted Catholic priest Fr Jose Puthrukayil (66), named as second accused, from the list of accused in the sensational 26-year-old case.

The court granted discharge to Fr Puthrukayil, a former college principal, from the case after the CBI failed to produce evidences to prove his role in the murder. The priest’s exemption from the case on the basis of a discharge plea he had filed seven years ago has come when trial in the case is about to start.

However, the court rejected the discharge pleas filed by the first accused, Catholic priest Fr Thomas M Kottoor, and third accused, Catholic nun Sr Sephy (57), and said they would have to undergo trial. The chargesheet in the case will be read out to the accused on March 28, 26 years after the murder.

The body of Sr Abhaya (19), a nun of the St Pius X Convent in Kottayam, was found in the well of the convent on the morning of March 27, 1992. The local police and the Crime Branch of the police, who probed the murder initially, termed the nun’s death as a case of suicide but the CBI which took over the investigation found that the nun had indeed been murdered.

However, a team of the Central agency told the court that the culprits could not be found as all crucial evidences had been lost and since then four more CBI teams have dealt with the case. It was the fifth team of the agency that had – over 16 years after the murder – identified the alleged culprits and arrested them.

The CBI arrested Fr Kottoor, then diocesan chancellor of the Knanaya Catholic Church in Kottayam, Fr Puthrukayil, then principal of the Church-run St Pius X College at Rajapuram in Kasaragod and Sr Sephy, a senior nun with the Kottayam convent where Sr Abhaya lived, on November 19, 2008 on the basis of circumstantial evidences and narco-analysis results.

According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI on July 17, 2009, the two priests and the senior nun struck Sr Abhaya, who they thought had seen them in a dark corner in the convent at an unearthly hour on the night of March 26, 1992, in the back of her neck with a blunt object and dumped her in the well after she fell unconscious.

Abhaya, according to the CBI, had seen them when she had gone to the kitchen to fetch drinking water amidst her preparation for her second-year pre-degree examinations. Fr Kottoor, also a teacher at the BCM College in Kottayam where Sr Abhaya was a student, Fr Puthrukayil and Sr Sephy filed petitions seeking discharge from the case on March 16, 2011.

During the arguments over his discharge petition, Fr Puthrukayil submitted that there was no evidence to establish that he had gone to the convent on the day of the incident and that the probe agency had not produced any evidence to support the charges slapped on him. The court granted him discharge by accepting his arguments.

“I am happy about this and I thank God,” he said on Wednesday. “I can say with confidence and sincerity that I have not done anything that causes blemish to my priestly life. I am sure Sr Abhaya will get justice,” However, the court rejected the discharge petitions of the other two accused by accepting the CBI’s arguments against them.

“The situation that led to grant of discharge to the second accused was brought about by the irresponsibility shown by the CBI in handling this case,” said activist Jomon Puthenpurackel whose relentless efforts had been instrumental in keeping the nun murder case alive. “The CBI should appeal against this. I hope it will do that,” he said.
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