It looks like justice is finally being done in the Sr. Abhaya murder case. After 16 years, the CBI has arrested and remanded two priests and a nun on Nov 18th and 19th. The CBI joint director Ashok Kumar said the arrests were made on strong evidence. It was evident from the news came out in May 2008 that the narco analysis points at Thomas Kottoor, Jose Poothrikkayil and Stephy as the culprits.
The arrest also renews my faith in our country’s judicial system. Reportedly, there were serious tampering of evidence right from the beginning of the case inquiry. The case was initially taken by Kerala Police and then moved to Crime Branch and finally to several teams of CBI. The Court intervened and severly criticized CBI and closely followed up the case. If not for the Kerala High Court and the latest CBI team, the case would have been lost forever and the arrests would never have been made.
One person to remember on this occassion is Mr. Varghese P Thomas, the retired DSP of CBI. In 1993, he called a press conference and announced his resignation from CBI, stating that his conscience did not permit him to comply with a strong directive given by his superior officer, V. Thyagarajan, the then Superintendent of CBI Cochin Unit. He had also mentioned that the political pressure came from various places including the then prime minister Narasimha Rao’s office. The action council convener Jomon Puthenpurackal later said in a press conference that former minister K M Mani was involved in the putting political pressure on the case.
But the most dissapointing statement comes from the Catholic church authorities. Instead of letting the court take its due course, the authorities are trying to defend the accused. The diocesan vigilance committee of the Knanaya Archeparchy of Kottayam has said that the arrest is ‘mysterious’. They also claimed that those who have been arrested are innocent! But it is not surprising as Kottoor was serving in the higher posts of the Church. But the Church is only going to put the entire community in shame. It is high time that the Catholic church members come out and voice against such authorities.
Related post: Sr. Abhaya Murder Case – New developments