Accused bludgeoned Abhaya with axe: CBI to court

Kochi: The CBI, which is probing the murder of Catholic nun Abhaya, on Tuesday told the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate court that the three arrested — Fr Thomas M Kottor, Fr Jose Pithrukkayil and Sister Steffy — had bludgeoned the nun to death with an axe and dumped her body in the convent well.

The investigating agency made the statement when the accused were produced before the court after the period for custodial interrogation was over on the day.

With the CBI not seeking any extension of custody, the court remanded the accused in judicial custody till December 16. They were taken to the local sub jail.

The priests and the nun told the court that the CBI had been “mentally torturing” them as part of the investigation. To this, the court observed that interrogation did not amount to mental torturing.

Though the CBI had several times told the court that the nun was murdered, this was the first time that the agency informed the judiciary about the perpetrators of the crime. The nun’s body was found in the well of Pious Xth convent on March 27, 1992.

According to the CBI, Abhaya, who had gone to the convent kitchen to drink water in the early hours, saw the priests and the nun in “suspicious circumstances”. Fearing that Abhaya would reveal the incident, the trio clubbed her with an axe and threw her into the convent well, the agency further submitted.

The CBI had produced two witnesses in the incident and recorded their statements in the magistrate court.

The probe suffered a setback after retired assistant police sub-inspector V V Augustine committed suicide last week. He was in the dock for destroying evidence.

Eighteen nuns of St Joseph’s Congregation, to which Abhaya belonged, had recently moved a petition in Kerala High Court, alleging harassment by the CBI. The court had then sought clarification from the agency in this regard.

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