Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy, the first and third accused in the Sister Abhaya murder case, were on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment and fines of Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 5.5 lakh respectively by K Sanal Kumar, judge of the Thiruvananthapuram CBI Special Court.
Though Fr Kottoor was slapped with double life imprisonment (on charges of murder and trespass) the punishment would run concurrently and hence he need to serve only one sentence. He has to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh on charges of murder, Rs 1 lakh for trespass and Rs 50,000 for destroying evidence.
The nun Sr Sephy was awarded life imprisonment and Rs 5 lakh for charges under murder, seven years rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 for destroying evidence.
Though the accused told the judge that they should be freed of all charges considering their advanced age and ailments, they did not get any concessions. The judge had made it clear to the prosecution that since it was not a pre-planned murder, the accused would not be slapped with death sentence.
Father Kottoor was sent to Central Jail at Poojappura, a Thiruvananthapuram suburb and Sister Sephy to the Women’s Jail in another suburb where she would have the company of Swapna Suresh, the kingpin of the gold smuggling case that rocked Kerala politics.
Expressing happiness over the judgement, Sister Abhaya Action Council convener Jomon Puthenpurackal said he would not rest until the appeals to be filed by the convicts are rejected by the higher courts.
The Kottayam Archdiocese to which the accused belong issued a media release about the incident for the first time since Sister Abhaya was murdered on March 27, 1992. “The Archdiocese is of the view that the death of Sister Abhaya is unfortunate and painful. Though the charges against Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy who are members of the Archdiocese are unbelievable we respect the court verdict. The accused have the rights for appeal against the verdict and prove their innocence,” said the release.
According to prosecution, Kottoor and Poothrikkayil were having an illicit relationship with Sephy, also an inmate of the convent. On the night of March 27, 1992, Abhaya (21) — a second year student of the BCM college, Kottayam, was staying at St Pius convent — saw Kottoor and Sephy in a compromising position, following which the three accused hacked her with an axe and threw her into the well, the CBI had said in its charge sheet.
Varghese P Thomas, the then CBI Deputy SP who was the first investigation officer of the case and who had to resign his job because of severe pressure to write off the case as suicide, said that he was happy that the accused have been sentenced.