A nun in India’s southern state of Kerala was brutally murdered in 1992 after she broke into a convent where a priest was fooling around with another nun in a dormitory.
For years, the authorities failed to bring the killers to justice, and at one point even considered the death a “suicide” and tried to close the case on that basis.
After nearly 30 years, the case has finally come to light and the victims have been cleared of any wrongdoing, and the priest and nun involved have been sentenced to life in prison.
According to CNN 24, in 1992, Abia, then 19 years old, was studying at a convent-sponsored parochial school in Godiam, Kerala. On the day of the incident, Abia woke up at 4:15 a.m. to study for her exams, and when she went to the kitchen to get water, she found Father Kotul and Sister Thifi doing something indescribable.
Father Kotul teaches psychology at the school, while Sister Sophie is the hostel manager of the convent. After Abia discovered their affair, they brutally beat Abia over the head with a small axe, beat her to death and dumped her body in a well near the dormitory.
After a year-long investigation, the local police concluded that Abia died as a “suicide”. In 1993, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officially took over the case, but for 12 years until 2005, no progress was made.
The case took a turn for the worse in 2009, when the Kerala branch of the CBI finally arrested Kottuur, Thifi and another priest, Bhotrik Khair, on suspicion of murder 17 years after the incident (the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence).
Last December, the murderers were finally brought to justice. The story was also recently given a lot of media coverage.
CNN reported that the truth finally came out thanks to the persistent efforts of Abia’s family – especially her father – and rights activists.
“My father, Thomas, travels for hours every day in a minibus between his home and the police station, constantly asking the police to give social media the truth,” said Biju Thomas, Abia’s brother, “We are poor, we don’t have money, and my father has suffered a lot for this.”
Now, although the main culprit has been punished, Abia’s parents, who passed away in 2015, are unable to witness this “belated justice”.
As a result, some Indian media are still asking why it took nearly 30 years for the seemingly uncomplicated murder case to come to light.
