A CBI court in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday acquitted Fr Jose Poothrukayil in the 1992 murder of Sister Abhaya. However, the court refused to discharge the case against co-accused Sr Sephy and Fr Thomas Kottoor, and ordered that they both face trial in the 26-year-old case.
The order was based on a discharge plea filed by the three accused, including Fr Poothrukayil, contending that they had undergone a "considerably long" term of incarceration during investigation. The court, accepting Fr Poothrukayil's submission, set him free, saying he need not face further trial.
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Sister Abhaya, a resident of Pius X convent in Kottayam in Kerala, was found dead in the well of the convent on March 27, 1992.
Initially, both the Crime Branch and the CBI termed the death a suicide, but activist Joemon Puthenpurackal, who formed an Action Council, was pursuing the case. The turnaround happened after Puthenpurackal, managed to get the case reopened and following this, the CBI cracked it.
On November 19, 2008, the CBI arrested the three accused, including Poothrikkayil—a former Malayalam professor at a Kottayam college where Abhaya studied; Kottor, the Diocesan chancellor of the Catholic Church at Kottayam and Seffi, a resident of the convent where the incident took place.
On January 1, 2009, the three accused got bail. On March 28, the court will read out the chargesheet in the case to the accused and the trial is expected to start soon.
(With inputs from Onmanorama and agencies)