Sister Abhaya murder: Priest and nun convicted after 28 years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two accused in the sensational Sister Abhaya murder case were found guilty by a special CBI court on Tuesday. The sentence will be pronounced on Wednesday.
Besides the charges of murder and disappearance of evidence, the two were also accused of house trespassing. While Father Thomas Kottoor was found guilty, Sister Sephy was found not guilty.
With this, the bail of the two accused will now be cancelled and both the accused will be kept under judicial custody. The judgement was announced by CBI judge K Sanal Kumar.
Nineteen-year-old Sister Abhaya was found dead in a well at the St. Pius X convent at Kottayam on March 27, 1992. The crime branch and initial CBI teams that probed the case had concluded it as either a suicide or a murder with culprits who couldn't be traced.
However, courts refused to close the case and ordered further inquiry. In 2008, CBI DSP Nandakumaran Nair arrested Fr. Thomas Kottoor, Sister Sephy and Fr. Jose Puthrukayil in the case. Fr Puthrukayil was later discharged by the high court and didn't face trial.
The trial in the case started in the CBI special court in the last week of August, 2019 and concluded on December 10.
Jomon Puthenpurackal, the human rights activist who has been fighting for justice in the case, said the hand of God was visible in all stages of the case whenever there were attempts to bury the case. "Happy that our judicial system is powerful enough to deliver justice against all odds," he said.
Former CBI DSP Varghese P Thomas who first found that the case is a murder said the verdict once again proved that justice would be delivered. Breaking into tears as he heard the verdict, Thomas said his stand has been vindicated after all these years. He had quit CBI when he had 10 more years of service after his superiors insisted for submitting a closure report saying that the case was suicide.