BishopAccountability.org
	The Nun’s Priests’ Tale Express Buzz November 21, 2008 http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=The+nun%E2%80%99s+priests%E2%80%99+tale&artid=lEunGUn7GRg=&SectionID=RRQemgLywPI=&MainSectionID=RRQemgLywPI=&SectionName=XQcp6iFoWTvPHj2dDBzTNA== More often than not, mysterious death in a spiritual cloak becomes the subject of public scrutiny and trial before the law takes its course and reaches a logical conclusion. The downside is that uninformed debate in the public domain may be potent enough to put pressure on the investigating agencies and slow their hard task of separating the wheat from the chaff. The case of Sister Abhaya, a nun who was brutally killed in St Pius X Convent, Kottayam, is a case in point. From that dawn when her body was seen in the well in the convent, to this Wednesday’s dusk when the alleged accused were seen in the well of the court, the Abhaya case has haunted Kerala for 16 years with each passing day presenting a new suicide theory or murder plot. It remains a fact, however, that the case would have ended up on the long list of unsolved puzzles but for the sustained public interest and eventual pressure on the legal machinery. Many groups knocked on the doors of Kerala courts forcing the Law to examine the mystery threadbare. The courts did not hesitate to rap the knuckles of the police and the CBI whenever they flagged. Even Wednesday’s arrests would not have been made had the High Court not pulled the CBI up for soft-pedalling. The judicial activism that guided the investigators once again illumines the relevance of legal offices and their role in ensuring timely delivery of justice. The Chief Judicial Magistrate courts in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, and the Kerala High Court deserve full praise for the role they played. But their role, like that of the enlightened media, must not end with the arrests of two priests and a nun. It will conclude only when all the accused are booked and have deserving sentences slapped on them. For our part, we will continue the campaign and play the interventionist role as we did back in April 2007 to break the shocking news of evidence tampering done in the case. Ever since our reporter revealed that the chemical examination report of Sister Abhaya’s vaginal swab had been tampered with, the case took a new turn and saw some focused inquiry leading to the breakthrough. It is but natural for Kerala to expect courts and media to repeat this act with a view to solving other mysteries like the deaths of spiritual leaders Chekannur Moulavi and Swami Saswatheekananda, which continue to intrigue our collective common sense.
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