The third phase of witness examination in the Sister Abhaya murder case ended on Saturday with another witness turning hostile. Sister Sherly, the 32nd witness in the case, was Sister Abhaya’s roommate at the St Pius X Convent in Kottayam district of Kerala. She denied giving statement that she saw something unusual at the convent on the day Sister Abhaya died. The CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram declared Sister Sherly to be hostile.
According to reports, Sister Sherly had earlier stated that she was the one who woke up Sister Abhaya early in the morning, so that she could prepare for an exam. Sister Sherly reportedly had said that after one hour, when she went in search of Sister Abhaya, she noticed something peculiar — the fridge door in the kitchen was found open and a water bottle was lying on the floor. She had also stated that she found a veil lying on the floor. On Saturday, however, Sister Sherly told the CBI court that she only saw the veil lying on the floor, and nothing else, says a Madhyamam report.
Sister Abhaya, a 19-year-old nun of the Pius X convent in Kottayam, was found dead inside the convent well, on the morning of March 27, 1992. Though the Crime Branch closed the case by terming it a suicide, it was reopend after an year later by the CBI, stating that it was a murder. The trial in the case, however, started on August 26, 2019, after 27 years.
In 2009, CBI had decided to conduct a narco analysis test on Sister Sherly, but it was reportedly challenged in Supreme Court by top SC lawyers and got a ruling in her favour. Sister Sherly, however, denied any knowledge of high profile lawyers who challenged the CBI decision to conduct narco analysis test at Supreme Court, reports the Times of India.
Sister Sherly is presently working as a teacher at a school under the Kottayam diocese. As per the report, Sister Sherly said that she had never personally gone to Delhi to file the petition in Supreme Court but had signed an affidavit for the same at Mother General’s office. Reportedly, she also told the court that it was the Mother General who paid fees for this and also got her a job at the church’s school in Kottayam.
As of now, reportedly, a total of nine witnesses turned hostile in the case.
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