Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in Sister Abhaya Murder Case

Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy jailed for life

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court sentenced Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy to life imprisonment in the 1992 Sister Abhaya murder case. In addition to that both the accused are required to pay a fine of Rs 5 Lakh.  

State police had initially declared the case as suicide and filed a closure report

28 years ago, Sister Abhaya's dead body was recovered from a water well at St Pius X Convent in Kottayam District of Kerela on March 27, 1992. Back then, the state police had declared the case to be that of suicide and filed a closure report accordingly. An activist by the name of Jomon Puthenpurackal intervened and filed a writ petition in the matter. Although the local police tried to present the case as that of suicide but the court ordered a CBI investigation.

It took three rounds of CBI investigation to crack down the murder mystery

Although, in the year 1996 CBI filed a report saying that it couldn’t conclude whether this was a suicide or homicide. However, the court rejected the submission and directed to re-investigate the matter. Thereafter in the year 1997, CBI concluded that it is a homicide case but the report submitted by the team was rejected for the lack of evidence. This led to another round of investigation. Subsequently, the first arrests were made after 10 long years, wherein Father Jose Poothrukayil, Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy were arrested and charged for murder.