The lifeless body of a 44-year-old nun was discovered in a water-filled quarry close to the St Thomas Convent she was staying at Vazhakkala in Kochi on Sunday. The deceased has been identified as Jaseena Thomas, a local of Koruthodu in Mundakkayam in Kottayam district, stated police. A case of unnatural death has been registered.
The body was discovered at around 4 PM on February 14 in an abandoned granite quarry. The deep, waterlogged quarry, which has long been deserted, is situated right behind the convent.
Missing since breakfast
“Because the nun was discovered missing from St Thomas Convent since around 11 AM on Sunday, the convent authorities informed us. Later, several residents of the convent formed a search party and found her body floating in the water within the quarry,” stated an officer with the Thrikkakara police.
Jaseena had been missing since breakfast at around 10 AM in the morning. She did not join the other nuns in their prayers, as she complained of a headache. At 1 PM, when her roommate went to invite her for lunch, Jaseena was not in her room. The residents of the convent then searched the premises and found her missing. They enquired with Jaseena’s parents who informed them that they had not heard from her either. It was then that the convent informed the police.
Even as the police were conducting their enquiries, the convent informed them that Jaseena’s body had been found in the quarry. The police and the fire services immediately reached the spot and retrieved the body. The police also sealed off the room used by the deceased.
‘Mental instability’, say convent authorities
Authorities at the convent claimed that Jaseena suffered from a history of ‘mental instability’ for the past ten years.
However, her relatives, who reached the convent by 9 PM, denied Jaseena having any mental issues. They also denied knowledge of the nun being under any prescription drugs, to explain her alleged psychiatric episodes.
Jaseena joined the convent, which houses as many as twelve nuns, in 2018. According to media reports, Jaseena had been working in Kusumagiri Hospital for the past three years. Kusumagiri Hospital is a mental health clinic run by Christian missionaries.
Cases of nuns dying under mysterious and suspicious circumstances is common in the Communist-ruled state of Kerala. In one such incident, the body of 21 year-old nun Abhaya was found in a well at the St. Pius Convent in Kottayam, Kerala. It was only 28 years after Abhaya’s death, in December last year, that the perpetrators – a priest and a nun – were sentenced by the court. Abhaya had chanced upon her killers having sex in the convent, which is why they killed her.
Other nuns who died in similar circumstances over the years in Kerala are Divya P. Johnny, Susan Mathew and Stella Maria. Since 1987, more than twenty cases of nuns found dead in wells have been reported from various convents in Kerala.
Citing the track record of Christian convents in the state, the public expects closer scrutiny and vigilance from the investigators, to bring the culprits to book.
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