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A Catholic priest and nun have been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of killing a nun in the same monastery in India nearly 30 years ago.
Father Thomas Couture and Sister Saifi were found guilty on Tuesday of the murder of Nun Abhaya in 1992 and of hiding the traces of the crime.
And Abhaia, the day she was killed, was still 21 years old. Koutor and Saifi broke up with her after she saw them engage in an explicit sexual act.
At first, the local police assumed that the young nun had committed suicide.
However, suspicions about Abhaia’s murder, raised by members of his family and human rights activists, led the authorities to reopen an investigation into the incident.
Sister Saifi, 55, did not comment on the ruling against her, but Father Couture, 69, insisted on his innocence.
The day after the verdict was delivered, Kotor told local media: “I have not committed any crime. God is with me.”
A third priest, Father José Bothrix, faced accusations of having a suspicious relationship with Sister Saifi. He was arrested and charged in connection with the Abhaia murder in 2008, but was released due to lack of evidence.
Abhaia’s body was found in a well inside the Monastery of Saint Pius X in Kottayam, South India.
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“Finally, justice has been achieved in the case of Sister Abhaya. She will rest in peace,” according to an activist.
The court ruling was based on the fact that on the day of her murder, March 27, 1992, Abhaia woke up early and went to the monastery kitchen to fetch water from the refrigerator.
In the kitchen, Abhaia found Father Couture and Sister Saifi in an abusive sexual position.
Out of fear of exposure, the two lovers killed her and disposed of her body, according to the court.
The results of the investigations into the murder of the young nun have caused widespread controversy in India.
Local authorities initially believed that Abhaia had committed suicide. But the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation of the case in 1993 and discovered that there was a murder, but without finding any leads to the perpetrators.
Following a Supreme Court ruling in 2008, the Central Bureau of Investigation began looking again at the circumstances of the crime, and Koutour, Saifi and José Bothrikail were arrested and charged, but released on bail.
But there was a lengthy trial, before delivering its verdict on Tuesday.
Human rights activist Jomon Butenborakal said: “At last, justice has been achieved in the case of Sister Abhaya. May she rest in peace.”
