19-year-old Sister Abhaya was murdered in 1992 for being witness to an “immoral activity” between two priests and a nun of the Pious X Convent in Kottayam, Kerala. 28 years later, Sister Abhaya has been served justice, as a CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram found first accused Father Thomas Kotoor and third accused Sister Sephy guilty of the murder of the 19-year-old nun. Father Thomas Kotoor was sentenced to double life term on Wednesday, while Sister Sephy too has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Both accused Thomas Kotoor and Sister Sephy were found guilty of murder (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code), Section 449 (house trespassing to commit a crime) and Section 201 (destroying evidence) and other sections of the IPC. Initially, the state police had ruled out any criminal angle in the case and said that the death of Sister Abhaya was caused was merely a case of suicide. In 1993, however, a human rights activist took the matter to court, after which the case was transferred to the CBI. In its first report in 1996, the CBI said it was a case of suicide but a year after it said in its second report that it was instead a case of homicide.
Nearly three decades after Sister Abhaya was murdered and her body dumped inside the well of a convent in Kerala's Kottayam, a CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram finds Fr Thomas Kottoor and Sr Sephy guilty in the case. @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/nvTsAMfLAo
— Raam Das (@P__RamDas) December 22, 2020
In its third report filed in 2008, the central agency charged two Catholic priests, Father Thomas Kottoor and Father Jose Poothrukayil, and a nun, Sister Sephy with murder, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and other charges. The next year, in 2009, the CBI charge-sheeted the first and third accused in the case. Therefore, it took 28 long years for late Sister Abhaya to be served justice.
In a shocking development, however, the Church has decided to stand by Sister Abhaya’s killers. If the Knanaya Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam standing by the accused for all these years was not already enough, a statement by the church PRO said, “The charges against the duo are beyond belief. However, the church respects the court order. The convicted have all rights to appeal against the judgment and prove their innocence. The archdiocese is saddened and regrets the course of events.”
According to the News Minute, over the years, the church has consistently supported the accused in the case and rejected every accusation against them. Many witnesses have come forward and spoken about how the church has tried to influence them directly or indirectly.
This is a 28-years-old case, where a nun named Sister Abhaya was murdered, but cases of murder, rape, molestation and abuse being reported out of Churches or other Christian institutions are not new. The case of Franco Mulakkal, former bishop of Jalandhar Diocese who has been accused by a nun of sexually abusing her in Kerala between 2014 and 2016 serves as a prime example of how women and children are largely unsafe in such institutions. What’s worse, in more cases than one, the Church is seen siding with criminals masquerading as men and women of God, instead of ensuring justice for the victims.
