The Shocking Truth Behind Sister Abhaya's Murder | 28-Year Cold Case Solved | True Crime Documentary - video Dailymotion

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After 28 long years, the mystery of Sister Abhaya's death is finally solved. This documentary reveals the dark and disturbing truth behind one of India’s most controversial and mysterious murder cases.      In 1992, Sister Abhaya, a 19-year-old nun, was found dead in a convent well in Kottayam, Kerala. What initially seemed like a suicide spiraled into decades of legal battles, conspiracy, cover-ups, and silence from powerful institutions. With new forensic evidence and determined investigations, the case that haunted the nation for decades has finally reached a verdict.   This true crime documentary dives deep into the timeline, the accused priests and nun, the CBI investigations, court proceedings, and the emotional toll it took on those seeking justice.   🔍 Genre: True Crime | Mystery | Documentary  📅 Based on Real Events (1992 – 2020 Verdict)  📍 Location: Kerala, India  ⚖️ Verdict Delivered After 28 Years   #SisterAbhaya #TrueCrimeDocumentary #ColdCaseSolved #IndianTrueCrime #SisterAbhayaMurder #CBIInvestigation #JusticeAfter28Years #KeralaCrime #UnsolvedMystery #MurderMystery #TrueCrimeIndia #RealCrimeStory #CrimeDocumentary #ConventCase #IndiaCrimeCases #CrimeAndJustice #SisterAbhayaCase #AbhayaVerdict #ColdCaseFiles #CrimeSeries

Transcript

00:00Today's story is both shocking and complicated, taking not just a year, but nearly a decade to

00:09find any justice. It's about a 21-year-old nun whose brutal murder in 1992 was finally solved

00:16after 28 years in December 2020. This is the story of Sister Abhaya. This story begins in

00:24the quiet town of Kottayam, Kerala, back in 1992. Like many other Christian areas in Kerala,

00:32Kottayam was a peaceful place with churches and convents scattered all around. These places

00:38of worship were an important part of life for the people living there. One of the well-known

00:43convents in the area was the St. Pius X Convent. It had a hostel where many young women came to

00:49study and stay, many of whom were also nuns. Among these women was 21-year-old Sister Abhaya,

00:57a dedicated young woman who had come to the convent to serve God and help others.

01:02Sister Abhaya was studying at a pre-degree college, and like any student, she had exams coming up.

01:08Determined to do well, she decided to wake up early one morning to get some extra studying done.

01:13She set her alarm, went to bed, and woke up around 4 a.m. After greeting a few of her

01:20friends in the convent, she sat down to begin her studies. Around that time, she felt the need to

01:27take a short break. She left her books and went to the kitchen, possibly to drink some water or

01:33splash her face with cold water to stay awake. The next morning, when the other nuns woke up,

01:39they noticed something unusual. Sister Abhaya was missing. This seemed strange to them.

01:46When they went to the kitchen, they found a water bottle with its cap open,

01:50water spilled on the floor, and one of Sister Abhaya's slippers lying there.

01:55But where was Sister Abhaya? No one knew. The search became more urgent, and soon,

02:02they found Sister Abhaya's other slipper near the convent's well. And when one of the nuns went near

02:07the well and looked inside, she was terrified to see Sister Abhaya's lifeless body. The fire

02:13department arrived, the police were called, and eventually, Sister Abhaya's body was pulled out

02:19of the well. The nuns and hostel residents were in complete shock. Just the night before, they had

02:25shared dinner with her, laughed, made plans for the future, and even got annoyed by her early morning

02:31alarm. Now, that same friend was being carried out lifeless from the well. The local police officer,

02:39V. V. Augustine, arrived as part of the usual process. After the body was recovered, he wrote a

02:45report, called a photographer to take pictures of the scene in the body, and then sent the body for an

02:51autopsy. During the autopsy, doctors noticed cuts and bruises, found a head injury, and listed the

02:58cause of death as drowning. Even though Sister Abhaya had a head injury, the cause of death was

03:04still marked as suicide, with the possibility of murder. At that time, many people found this

03:11explanation hard to believe. Why would Sister Abhaya set an alarm just to end her life? The

03:18fridge door was left open, the bottle's cap was off, water was spilled, and her slipper was left on the

03:24floor. Everything seemed too hurried. The story didn't make sense to people. Many believed that

03:31this wasn't a suicide, but a murder. They also felt that someone was trying to cover up the truth,

03:38especially because the incident took place inside a convent. Sister Abhaya's death took place in a

03:44convent where hundreds of girls came to study, learn about religion, and live. Such a tragic event

03:50happening in a place like that was very unusual. This incident, along with the suspected cover-up,

03:57deeply unsettled the community. An activist named Joman Putan Parakal formed a committee to seek

04:03justice. On April 16th, the case was handed over to the crime branch. After a few months of

04:10investigation, the crime branch released its report. The case was taken out of the local police's hands

04:16and given to the crime branch, who spent months investigating. In the end, they concluded that

04:22Sister Abhaya's death was a suicide. By then, Sister Abhaya had already been buried, and her clothes were

04:29destroyed, leaving very little medical evidence behind. However, the case had become a huge topic

04:36of discussion in Kerala. The media was full of stories, and people across the state were coming up

04:42with their own theories about what had really happened. The nuns were unhappy with how things

04:47were going. There was pressure from the media, from activists, and even from society itself.

04:53Naturally, the case was passed to a higher authority. The Central Bureau of Investigation,

04:59CBI, took over, and a fresh investigation began. The CBI started with a new approach, looking for fresh

05:06clues and talking to old witnesses again. Everything seemed to be moving smoothly, but then

05:12something very strange and shocking happened. A CBI officer, Vargasi P. Thomas, held a press conference

05:19in 1994 and revealed something surprising. He said that he had been under pressure to declare the case

05:26as a suicide. Because of this, he chose to leave his job almost nine years before he was supposed to

05:33retire. You can imagine the chaos that followed his statement. The case became a big news story again.

05:40People couldn't understand why it was getting so confusing. Where was this pressure coming from?

05:47Why was the case so difficult to solve? The CBI team continued to investigate for quite some time,

05:54even though they didn't have much medical proof. Later, they carried out several dummy tests.

06:00They made a doll the same size and weight as Sister Abhaya, and threw it into the well in different ways.

06:05They carefully observed where the doll got injured, and compared those injuries to the ones found on

06:11Sister Abhaya. However, even after these tests, no clear answers came up. So, in 1996, three years

06:20after the investigation started, a report was submitted. It stated,

06:25We believe this should be treated as a murder case. We tried everything possible to find out who might be

06:32responsible for this tragic event. But despite all our efforts, we couldn't get any solid results.

06:39Four years after the incident, despite the efforts of the local police, the crime branch, and now the CBI,

06:46we still didn't know what really happened to Sister Abhaya.

06:48The earlier report was rejected, and a new CBI team was assigned. This new team carried out another

06:56investigation, and by 1999, three years later, they came to the conclusion that Sister Abhaya's death

07:03seemed like a murder. The main reason for this conclusion was the medical findings. This time,

07:10not just one doctor, but a group of three doctors looked at the body. They found several injuries that

07:16were not mentioned in the first post-mortem report. These injuries had been missed earlier.

07:22Now, let's go back to the day of the incident. Many nuns were at the convent and noticed more

07:28injuries on Sister Abhaya's body. V. V. Augustine, the officer I talked about earlier, had even called

07:36a photographer to the scene. The photographer closely examined Sister Abhaya's body and took pictures

07:42that showed extra marks of injuries not mentioned in the earlier report or post-mortem. When her body

07:48was taken out, many nuns were nearby, and they also saw these injuries. They noted several marks that

07:55hadn't been included in the original post-mortem report. After seven years of investigation, it became

08:02clear that Sister Abhaya did not take her own life. It looked more like a murder, but who did it?

08:08The answer will surprise you even more. The CBI admitted,

08:13We know it's a murder, but we still don't know who the killer is.

08:17Once again, the court refused to accept this report. Another team was formed, and in 2005,

08:24a new investigation was done. Again, it was stated that the killers could not be identified,

08:30and once more, the court did not accept this report. The activists outside, part of the action

08:36committee, were now angry. Many talks and conspiracy theories started popping up. Some media reports

08:43suggested that the first investigation was poorly handled. They claimed that Sister Abhaya was buried

08:48too quickly, her clothes were burned, and even her diary was destroyed. They felt the post-mortem

08:54was incomplete, and suspected that powerful people were trying to cover this up. Various theories spread

09:00quickly across Kerala. How could such a chaotic scene be part of the case? Why did the evidence

09:07disappear? Then, a new team began investigating again, and in 2007, a shocking revelation came to

09:15light. By now, the case had been under investigation for 15 years. There were many witnesses, but some had

09:25turned against the case, and others had even died. Many suspects had been questioned, but no solid proof was found

09:33against anyone. Then, out of nowhere, a witness stepped forward, offering a key clue to the case. But who was this

09:42witness? The witness was none other than a thief, an ordinary, unknown thief from 1992. Could his testimony really be

09:51trusted? Surprisingly, not only was his statement taken seriously, but it also changed the entire

09:57direction of the case. If you watch till here, please give a like to this video, and do complete

10:04our 30,000 subscribers. Thank you. This man was Adaka Raju, who admitted that he had committed

10:11thefts around 1992. He used to steal from different places, sell the stolen items, and use the money to feed

10:19himself and his family. On March 27th, Adaka Raju went to Saint, pious convent, with the plan to steal.

10:28His goal was to climb to the roof of the convent, where there were copper rods and wires meant to protect

10:33against lightning, take them, and sell them. He arrived in the dark of night to carry out his theft, but what he saw

10:41there was so unusual that it stayed in his mind for years. He noticed someone sneaking onto the campus in the

10:47dark, and the presence of that person was very strange. He saw a priest there, Father Thomas Caudor.

10:55This raised a question. What was a priest doing in the girls' hostel at such a late hour?

11:01Adaka Raju claimed he also saw Jose Putrikayil and Sister Sifi. This is where things get really creepy.

11:09As mentioned earlier, Raju had a simple way of working. He would steal items from different places

11:16and sell them to a scrap dealer. That night, when he witnessed the strange incident, he felt helpless.

11:23How could he speak up when he was there to commit a crime?

11:27The next day, he read about Sister Abhaya and then saw the police's comments about her case.

11:33That's when he began to feel that something was truly wrong. He had gone to steal, and if he told

11:40anyone about that night, he would have to admit to his own crime. Adaka Raju did something surprising.

11:47He went to the police and told them what he saw that night. Imagine what happened next when they

11:53heard his story. The police listened to his account and then arrested him, accusing him of the murder.

12:00They created a simple theory. Adaka Raju entered the convent that night to steal.

12:08While he was stealing, he ran into a nun. When she screamed, he panicked, killed her,

12:14and tossed her body into the well before escaping. Simple. Adaka Raju was held for 58 days,

12:22during which he reportedly faced different kinds of torture. He said he was pressured to take the

12:27blame for the murder. He claimed he was offered bribes, money, a job, help for his children's

12:34schooling, and even a house, if he confessed to the crime. His scrap dealer, Shamir, was also said to

12:41be tortured and pushed to blame Raju for everything. However, both Adaka Raju and Shamir refused to back

12:48down. When Raju wouldn't give in to the lure of money, they threatened him with several false charges.

12:54But what made him stand firm against this corrupt system? It was his honesty.

13:02Later, throughout this dirty game, Adaka Raju was the one who stood strong in his truth,

13:07the same petty thief from before, whom even the court admired. From this point, the case takes a new

13:14turn. The CBI now had two main suspects, Father Thomas Couture and Father José Putrikayil.

13:22In fact, a neighbor who lived near the convent claimed he had seen Father Thomas Couture's

13:27scooter parked there. On the night of March 26th, this neighbor went to a nearby shop for tea,

13:34and when he returned around midnight, he noticed the scooter outside the convent. At the time,

13:41he didn't think much of it. However, later he changed his story, saying,

13:45I said that under pressure. He was one of many witnesses who turned against the case.

13:52But hold on. When Adaka Raju told the police about this, they already knew there were some

13:58suspects. Why didn't they investigate this further? Why didn't they look into Raju's account even a

14:04little bit? Or was someone telling them to set up Raju? Raju was being offered money. Who had enough

14:11money to back that? And the biggest question was, if Raju was telling the truth, what was Father Couture

14:18doing at the convent that night? A rumor started to spread that Father Couture had told a friend he

14:23and Sister Cephi from the convent were like a married couple. Even before this, many people had

14:29raised similar claims. Some of the nuns in the convent discussed it among themselves, and others

14:36outside shared their thoughts too. Finally, in 2008, based on Raju's statement, the CBI named Father

14:44Thomas Couture, Sister Cephi, and Father Jose Putrikayal as the main suspects in this murder case.

14:51After this, the defense lawyer for the accused tried to undermine witness Raju by painting him as

14:57a professional criminal in court. He brought up about 10 criminal cases against Raju, most of which

15:04had him as the accused. Raju did not deny his criminal past, which turned the lawyer's argument

15:10against him. Even though he admitted to his previous crimes, Raju stood firm in his testimony, determined

15:17to seek justice for Sister Abhaya's murder. Because of his statement, Father Thomas Couture, Sister Cephi,

15:25and Father Jose Putrikayal were all sent to Bengaluru for narco tests. The doctor in charge of the tests

15:32was named Malini. The results of the tests were recorded on three CDs, which were then sent to the

15:38Kerala Judiciary Court and the Kerala High Court. However, it was later found that the CDs containing

15:45the narco test results had been tampered with. Dr. Malini was called to explain this issue, but she had

15:52been suspended some time earlier, leaving the narco test reports incomplete. Everyone present during the

15:59narco tests was questioned. However, everyone claimed that no one had tampered with the CDs. To find out the truth,

16:07the narco test CDs were sent to the Central for Development of Imaging Technology, CDIT. The CDIT analyzed the

16:16digital evidence and discovered that the first CD belonged to Father Thomas Couture. It contained a full recording

16:22of 32 minutes and 50 seconds that had been edited more than 30 times. The CD of Father Jose's test was

16:2940 minutes and 55 seconds long and had been edited 19 times. The last CD was for Sister Cephi's narco test,

16:38which recorded 18 minutes and 42 seconds and had been edited 23 times. After the tampering incident,

16:46the Kerala High Court ordered the CBI to present the original CDs related to the narco tests in court

16:52within 10 days. But just a few days later, the original recordings of the narco tests for Father

16:58Thomas Couture, Sister Cephi, and Father Jose were shown on a local TV station in Kerala. How this

17:06broadcast happened and who aired it is still unknown, but the original narco test recordings revealed how

17:12Father Thomas Couture and Father Jose committed the murder. According to their narco test recordings,

17:19on the morning of March 27, 1992, Sister Abhaya woke up at 4 a.m. It was quite warm, so she went from

17:29her hostel room to the fridge to get some water. While she was drinking, she heard some noises coming

17:35from the kitchen. When Abhaya went to check, she found Father Couture, Father Jose, and Sister Cephi

17:42in a compromising situation. In that moment, before she could run away, they attacked Sister Abhaya with

17:49deadly intent. Sister Cephi grabbed an axe from the kitchen and hit her on the head, and the post-mortem

17:55report confirmed she had head injuries. After that, they dragged her to the well and threw her in to

18:01cover up their crime. After this CD was aired, the CBI started questioning all three of them in their

18:07office. However, in 2009, all three were released on bail. It was shocking that Father Jose was cleared

18:15of any wrongdoing in this case. From 2009 to 2019, many hearings took place, and in 2020,

18:24the Kerala High Court sentenced Father Thomas Couture and Sister Cephi to life in prison based on

18:30the narco test results, and Raju the thief's testimony. The court also fined both of them

18:365 lakh rupees. Thus, after 28 years, thanks to a thief, one of India's longest-running murder mystery

18:44cases was finally solved. What do you think about this story? Please share your thoughts in the

18:50comments, and don't forget to subscribe and complete 30,000 subscribers. Thank you.

The Shocking Truth Behind Sister Abhaya's Murder | 28-Year Cold Case Solved | True Crime Documentary

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