After 28 years the law has caught up with the perpetrators of the heinous murder of a young nun called Abhaya.
Abhaya belonged to Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a part of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam, Kerala. The local police which investigated the case initially closed it with a theory of suicide. The Crime Branch which took up the investigation tried to strengthen the suicide theory, with claims of psychological illness of the deceased. The same crime branch later tried to strengthen the suicide theory, with claims that the victim had psychological problems.
The CBI had ordered an inquiry following public outcry. The CBI officials who initially conducted the investigation also came to the conclusion that it was a suicide. Another CBI probe team, which then took up the case, concluded that Abaya had been murdered. Father Thomas Kottur and Father Jose Boothurugai were arrested in 2008 in connection with the murder of Sister Sebi. The CBI then acquitted Father Josiah of the case on the ground that there was no evidence.
After realizing that Abhaya was a witness to the sexual relationship between Father Thomas Kottur and Sister Sebi, the two attacked Abaya with an axe and threw her into a well. She hit her head on the water pump and fell into the water and eventually died. On March 27, 1992, the body of Sister Abaya, 21, was found floating in the well of St. Pius Convent in Kottayam, Kerala. The CID, which initially investigated the case, concluded that Abaya had committed suicide
The main turning point in the case was when a thief who had entered the church premise to steal, became the eyewitness in this case.
The Thiruvananthapuram CBI special court finally convicted priest Thomas Kottur and nun Sebi in the 28-year-old Sister Abaya murder case. In the court the prosecution lawyers wanted the maximum punishment for the culprits. The Judge on the contrary felt that this was not a premeditated murder and gave them life imprisonments. Priest Thomas Kottur, who was convicted in the murder of Sister Abaya in Kerala, was sentenced to double life imprisonment and Sister Sebi to life imprisonment. The judge also ordered the two to pay a fine of ₹5 lakh each.
The Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court have rejected the pleas of Father Thomas Kottur and Sister Sebi to acquit themselves, and the CBI special court has pronounced the verdict.
Though murder is obviously a heinous crime, experience tells us that if the criminal is a religious head of a minority community in India, then the law enforcing agencies may be compelled to look the other way.