Its God's intervention, says nun Abhaya's brother; "My child got justice": Key witness

Prime witness Adakka Raju, whose statement turned out to be a crucial evidence, said he was extremely happy that My child got justice, while Abhaya Case Action Council convenor Jomon Puthenpurackal said truth can never be sabotaged.Then CBI DySP Varghese P Thomas, who had first established through his probe in 1993 that it was a murder, said his stand had been vindicated.

Its ''God's intervention'' was how nun Abhaya's brother Biju Thomas described a CBI court's verdict on Tuesday convicting two accused, including a priest, of murdering his sister nearly three decades ago in a convent here in Kerala. Prime witness 'Adakka' Raju, whose statement turned out to be a crucial evidence, said he was extremely happy that ''My child got justice'', while Abhaya Case Action Council convenor Jomon Puthenpurackal said truth can never be sabotaged.

Then CBI DySP Varghese P Thomas, who had first established through his probe in 1993 that it was a murder, said his stand had been vindicated. ''I see God's intervention in the verdict,'' Biju Thomas, who is currently abroad, told TV channels.

He said due to 'pressure' from the church and political leaders justice was delayed in the case, which had seen many twists and turns during the lengthy investigations by multiple agencies, including the CBI and the Crime Branch Police. Twenty-eight years after Abhaya was found dead in a well at a convent in Kottayam, a CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday found Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy guilty of murdering the 21-year-old nun.

Sister Abhaya's parents Ayakarakunnel Thomas and Leelamma had died in 2016 while continuing their legal battle for ensuring justice for their daughter, who was found dead on March 27, 1992 in the well of the ST Pius Convent of which she was an inmate. The statement of Raju, a then petty thief who had entered the convent to steal something on the day of the crime, was crucial in ensuring justice in the case.

He had given a statement to CBI about the presence of Kottoor and another priest in the convent on the day of the crime. Reacting to the court's verdict, Raju, who is staying in a small house in a colony of poor people, claimed crores of rupees were offered to him for changing his statements during the trial, which saw several prosecution witnesses turning hostile.

Calling Abhaya as his child, he said ensuring justice for the nun was his great wish. ''I did not accept a coin. I still live in this colony. I am extremely happy because my child has got justice today,'' Raju told reporters here.

Jomon Puthenpurackal, who fought for the case in the streets as well as in courts, said it was the God who worked in the form of Raju. Hailing the court's decision, Puthenpurackal said it had been proved that no one can sabotage truth using their money power and political influence.

''This is a verdict with God's own signature on it'', he told reporters, narrating the obstacles he had faced while fighting for justice for sister Abhaya. Varghese Thomas, who had taken voluntary retirement in protest against the pressure exerted on him to submit a closure report concluding it was a case of suicide, welcomed the verdict.

Tears welled up in the eyes of Thomas as he spoke about the troubles he had to face during the course of the investigation. ''My stand has been vindicated. This is the victory of truth. I stood for truth. The verdict is a prize for standing for truth,'' Thomas said.

He had taken VRS from CBI when he had 10 more years of service left. ''Two of my batch-mates in the same rank had retired from service as DIGs'', Thomas, who had to sacrifice his career for truth and justice, said.