Sister Abhaya's murder

Sr Abhaya case

Sr Abhaya case was the beginning of a new turn in the history of church sponsored criminalism in Kerala. The body of 21 year Sr Abhaya was found lifeless in the well of a Convent well in 1992. When the body was found, church authorities told the media that she had committed suicide, but investigations concluded that Sr. Abhaya was not only killed but raped and killed! The chemical examination at the Government Forensic Lab pointed to Abhaya being raped before murder.

Investigators say two theories behind Sr Abhaya's death. One, she was murdered when she refused the sexual advances of a priest or a bishop. Second, she was killed because she knew that some of her colleague nuns had sexual relationships with two Catholic priests. However, CBI is yet to book the culprits behind the murder of Sr Abhaya even after 16 years.

The above mentioned are only some identical incidents from a dozen convent tragedies that took place in the recent past. These mysterious deaths of nuns clearly underly problems in convent life for women in Kerala. These incidence also give credence to the State Women's Commission's observation that all is not well in the convents in the state.