Sr Abhaya murder case: Ex-professor comes forward with telling details

After a string of witnesses came before the CBI Special Court in the preceding days and refuted that they had ever made any charges against the prime accused in the Sister Abhaya murder case, the CBI had in Thresiamma, a former professor of BCM College for Women, Kottayam, a spirited witness who not only stuck to her earlier charges but also looked eager to testify against the accused.

The former college professor on Tuesday gave gossipy details that painted Fr Thomas Kottoor, the first accused, and Fr Jose Puthrikayil, originally the second accused but was later discharged for want of sufficient evidence, as men whose behaviour caused discomfort among women, especially girl students. Both the accused were teachers at the BCM College.

When defence lawyer B Raman Pillai objected to many of the questions the prosecution lawyer put to the witness, here is what special judge K Sanilkumar said: “It is once in a blue moon that the prosecution gets a witness like this. Let them squeeze out whatever they can.”

The judge said this in jest but he was referring to the many prosecution witnesses who had turned hostile and others whom the prosecution had refrained from questioning knowing that they, too, would go back on their earlier testimonies and weaken the case. Already six of the witnesses the CBI had lined up have been declared hostile, and five others who were summoned were not even called to the podium.

Thresiamma was a senior Malayalam teacher at the college, run by the Knanaya Catholic church, at the time of Sr Abhaya's death on March 27, 1992. She was Sr Abhaya's teacher, too. Thresiamma told the court on Tuesday that she, along with other teachers of the BCM College, went to the St Pious X Convent on the day Abhaya was found dead.

“There were lots of policemen at the place,” Thresiamma said. She said it was Fr Jose Puthrikayil who had escorted them to the well at the backside of the convent where Abhaya's body was laid covered in a bedsheet. “He pulled down the shroud till the neck for us to see the face of Abhaya,” Thresiamma said. Prosecution lawyer Navas asked about Fr Puthrikayil's behaviour at that time. “He behaved as if he was the caretaker of the place,” she said. The prosecution could perhaps use this to argue that Puthrikayil had used his influence in the convent to destroy evidence.

Thresiamma said she saw a small wound mark above the upper lip and to the right of Abhaya's nose. “There was a slight tilt to the wound,” she said. Earlier, another witness, a photographer named Varghese Chacko, had told the CBI court that he had seen two wound marks on either side of Sr Abhaya's neck.

The prosecution lawyer then asked her about the behaviour of the accused in the days after the murder. “April and May were vacation months and some examinations were also on. Puthrikayil used to arrive at the college to mark his attendance but he would make an appearance only after other teachers had gone,” Thresiamma said. Puthrikayil was also in the Malayalam department. She also told the court that the priest turned aloof after the death of Sr Abhaya. “Earlier he used to talk to us,” she said.

Thresiamma said the talk among teachers in the college was that Fr Kottoor and Fr Puthrikayil were behind the murder of Sr Abhaya. She said they talked about the involvement of the priests only when the nuns were not with them. She said the then Bishop Kuriakose Kunnassery, who had passed away, had given the accused all assistance. “Why do you say that the Bishop had gone out of his way to help them,” the judge asked. “That's how it is,” Thresiamma said, with a smile. Later she told the court that Fr Kottoor was once the private secretary of the Bishop.

Thresiamma was then asked about the mode of transport for the priests. “They used to come to the college in a scooter,” she said. “Was there anything about the scooter,” the prosecution lawyer gave a subtle prompt. She turned to the judge with a gleeful smile that suggested that she was about to reveal a juicy secret. “After Abhaya's death, Puthrikayil had fallen from his scooter quite a number of times and had fractured his hands and legs. We used to say that it was Abhaya's spirit who had pushed him from the scooter,” she said.

The former Malayalam professor also described Fr Kottoor as a pervert of sorts. “Girls used to complain that Fr Kottoor stared intently at their feet,” Thresiamma said, again with the conspiratorial smile of someone sharing a smutty secret.

The defence asked for more time to cross-examine Thresiamma. The cross will now be held on October 1.