Priest, nuns take lie test in murder case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI has taken two nuns and a priest from Kottayam to Bangalore to undergo truth serum tests in connection with the mysterious death of sister Abhaya in 1992, a case the central agency had twice given up on.

The CBI had been given permission to conduct the tests on Jose Puthrika, Sephy and Helen, by Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.

Abhaya (21), an inmate of Pius X Convent, Kottayam, was found dead in a well on the convent’s premises on March 27, 1992.

The crime branch, which investigated the case, said that it was a case of “suicide by drowning”. The CBI took over the case after the victim’s parents and an action council campaigned for justice.

The CBI, which concluded on July 12, 1999 that Abhaya’s death was homicide that remains “untraced”, was again directed by the court to conduct a fresh investigation utilising scientific methods such as brain finger printing.

The court had said there was a glaring discrepancy in the inquest report and the FIR regarding the time of detection of the body from the well.

The agency was back to square one on August 31, 2005, when it requested in its final report before the CJM court in Ernakulam that the case be closed as untraced.

The case got headway when a newspaper report revealed that forensic reports on Abhaya’s private organs were tampered with.