A slipper lying in the kitchen, a white cloth covering the head stuck on the door and a water bottle scattered on the floor. This was the situation at the place where the body of a sister named Abhaya was found in a well a few steps away. When the postmortem was conducted, nail marks were found on the sister’s neck, two wounds on the head, scratches at many places on the body and a fracture in the skull. The police investigated and believed that Sister Abhaya had committed suicide by jumping into the well. But, the story was different.
When the demand for investigation into the death of Sister Abhaya arose, the case was handed over to the CBI. Although the CBI, in its investigation, accepted that the case was of murder, it abandoned the investigation after finding no clue about the killer. Sister Abhaya’s death was becoming a mystery when a thief came forward and his testimony exposed the killers.
Abhaya was murdered because she saw the priest and nun in a compromising position in the kitchen at around 4 in the morning. To protect their secret from being revealed, both of them first strangled Abhaya and then hit her on the head with a heavy object. After this Abhaya’s body was thrown into the well. Let us tell you the complete story of this sensational case in detail.
What was this whole story of murder?
The date was 27 March 1992, time was morning and place was St. Pius X Convent Hostel located in Kottayam city of Kerala. The body of Beena Thomas alias Sister Abhaya, who was studying in a nearby college, was found in the well of this hostel. One of his slippers was found lying near the well and one in the kitchen. Police had believed that Abhaya had committed suicide by jumping into the well. But, when Abhaya’s father raised questions regarding the death, the investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI.
CBI started investigation in 1993, but 12 long years passed without any clue. From 1993 to 2005, the CBI submitted four reports, including three closure reports, which were rejected by the court. In its investigation, the CBI came to the conclusion that Abhaya was murdered, but they could not find any clue about the killer and the motive for the murder.
There were illicit relations between the priest and the nun
After this, the investigation of the case was transferred from the New Delhi branch of CBI to the CBI office in Cochin, Kerala. While the investigation of the case was going on, a thief named Raju was discovered, who had entered the same hostel to commit theft on the night of Sister Abhaya’s murder. Raju testified in court that he was present at the scene when Father Thomas Kattoor and Sister Safi committed the murder.
According to CBI, Sister Abhaya woke up around 4:15 in the morning to prepare for her exam. She went to the kitchen on the ground floor to get water, where she saw Father Kattoor and Sister Sefi in a compromising position. Kattoor taught psychology at the school, while Sister Safi was in charge of the convent hostel. There were illicit relations between these two.
The thief’s testimony proved important in this case.
On the night of the murder Kattoor secretly entered the convent and went to Sister Sefi’s room. Sefi’s room was on the ground floor of the hostel, near the kitchen. When they realized that Abhaya had seen them both, they first strangled her and then hit her on the head with a small ax kept in the kitchen. After this the body was thrown into the well of the hostel.
After 27 years in the case, the court found Father Kattoor and Sister Saifi guilty of Abhaya’s murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Raju’s testimony proved to be most important in getting justice for Abhaya. After the verdict in this case was announced in December 2020, Raju had said that many people had offered him crores of rupees to change his testimony, but his aim was to get justice for Abhaya.