Abhaya case: Habitual offender turned out to be crucial witness

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was on August 29, 2019, the

third day

of trial, that Adakka Raju was examined as a witness in the case by the CBI.


On the first day, Sister Abhaya’s hostel mate

Sister Anupama

and on the second day neighbour

Sanju P Mathew

had turned hostile, forcing the CBI counsel to allege that all witnesses were influenced. Then, Raju walked into the dock and resolutely said that he had seen two men, including

Fr Thomas Kottoor

, the first accused in the case, in the St Pius X convent compound in the wee hours of March 27, 1992, the day

Abhaya

was found dead in the convent well.

“I was on the terrace stealing copper components of a lightning conductor installed atop the convent building. It was my third visit as I had come there twice before for stealing the components. I saw two men walking up the stairs with a torch and they were surveying the surroundings. One of them was a tall man and the other one is

Fr Kottoor

who is in this court. As they were there, I abandoned my plan and left the place,” Raju alias Adakka Raju told the CBI special court.

The statement of Raju was in line with the sworn statement to the judicial first-class magistrate in Ernakulam. He also identified Fr Kottoor who was also present in the court.

During the hearing, Raju also levelled serious allegations against the crime branch team which had initially probed the case. He said he was picked up by the crime branch sleuths and kept in custody for 57 or 58 days. The defence counsel had tried to defame Raju by listing out around 10 criminal cases in which Raju was an accused.

Raju didn’t deny charge regarding his criminal past.

However, as it turned out, the effort of the defence lawyer to prove that the witness had a blemished character turned counterproductive.

With Raju admitting to the truth even in incidents that cast poor light on his person, the court may have been prompted to take his witness statement in the current case at its face value.

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