The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, June 23, ruled to suspend the life imprisonment of two convicts in the Sister Abhaya murder case. The court further decided to grant bail to the two convicts. The court held that Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy should be released on bail on the execution of bonds of Rs 5 lakh each.
“They should not leave the state and should appear before the investigating officer on all Saturdays for a period of six months,” said the HC’s verdict.
After a 28-year legal battle, Father Thomas and sister Sephy were found guilty of murdering sister Abhaya by the special CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram.
The 229-page judgment delivered by the CBI court in 2020 confirmed that the Catholic nun was attacked with an “intention to kill.”
Sister Abhaya, a Catholic nun, was found dead in a well in St Pius X Convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. Catholic priest Father Thomas Kottoor and nun Sister Sephy were found guilty of murder, 28 years after the crime was committed.