A day after the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Thiruvananthapuram found a catholic priest and a nun guilty of the murder of Sister Abhaya, the accused Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy were sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday (December 23).
A special CBI Court at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment Father Thomas M Kottoor and SisterSephy, a priest and a nun of the Catholic church respectively, for the murder of #SisterAbhaya 28 years ago
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) December 23, 2020
Read more: https://t.co/AslsHOn80r#SisterAbhayaCase pic.twitter.com/ILYwzScCHA
Kottoor and Sephy have been pronounced guilty in the teenage nun’s murder case that goes back to 1992. 19-year-old Sister Abhaya, a Class 12 student, was found dead and her body was dumped inside the well of a convent in Kottayam. At the starting of the investigation, it was ruled as "death by suicide" by the state police and the crime branch. However, CBI took over the case after several protests. Now 28 years after the crime, the sentence for punishment has been finally delivered by Special CBI Judge Sanal Kumar.
Reportedly, both the accused 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. Read all about Sister Abhaya’s murder case here
According to an NDTV report, each accused has been imposed with a fine of five lakh rupees, and the two have also been sentenced to seven years in jail separately, for destroying evidence.
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Kottoor was a Vicar and Sister Abhaya's psychology teacher at Kottayam's BCM College. While Sister Sephy stayed at the same hostel as Sister Abhaya and worked as the warden, Live Law reported. Reportedly, when Sister Abhaya nun witnessed the accused in a compromising position, she was hit with a blunt object and thrown into the well to cover-up the crime. The accused in the case were finally arrested in 2008.
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