<p>A priest and a nun, who were convicted in the three-decade-old sister Abhaya murder case, were granted bail on Thursday by the Kerala High Court.</p>.<p>Priest Thomas M Kottoor and Sister Sephy were granted bail by providing bail bond of Rs 5 lakh each, two solvent sureties, and on condition that they were not allowed to travel outside the country. The two were sentenced to life by a CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram in December 2020, but the Kerala High Court, considering their petition to suspend sentence until a decision on their appeals was made, gave them bail.</p>.<p>Activist Jomon Puthenpurackal alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation, by not vehemently opposing the convicts’ appeals to suspend sentence, aided them. He alleged that the CBI didn’t even file a counter affidavit.</p>.<p>Puthenpurackal, who headed an action council seeking justice for the murdered nun and was instrumental in keeping the case in limelight, said he would file an appeal against the convicts’ bail.</p>.<p>Abhaya, 21-year-old sister was found dead in a well within the St. Pius X convent premises in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. CBI’s findings were that Abhaya, who was a second-year pre-degree student at Kottayam BCM College, saw the accused in a compromising position when she went to the kitchen to drink water. Consequently, she was murdered by them using an axe and her body was then dumped into the well.</p>.<p>The conviction in the case came 28 years after the incident.</p>
<p>A priest and a nun, who were convicted in the three-decade-old sister Abhaya murder case, were granted bail on Thursday by the Kerala High Court.</p>.<p>Priest Thomas M Kottoor and Sister Sephy were granted bail by providing bail bond of Rs 5 lakh each, two solvent sureties, and on condition that they were not allowed to travel outside the country. The two were sentenced to life by a CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram in December 2020, but the Kerala High Court, considering their petition to suspend sentence until a decision on their appeals was made, gave them bail.</p>.<p>Activist Jomon Puthenpurackal alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation, by not vehemently opposing the convicts’ appeals to suspend sentence, aided them. He alleged that the CBI didn’t even file a counter affidavit.</p>.<p>Puthenpurackal, who headed an action council seeking justice for the murdered nun and was instrumental in keeping the case in limelight, said he would file an appeal against the convicts’ bail.</p>.<p>Abhaya, 21-year-old sister was found dead in a well within the St. Pius X convent premises in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. CBI’s findings were that Abhaya, who was a second-year pre-degree student at Kottayam BCM College, saw the accused in a compromising position when she went to the kitchen to drink water. Consequently, she was murdered by them using an axe and her body was then dumped into the well.</p>.<p>The conviction in the case came 28 years after the incident.</p>
