Who is Sister Sephy and how did she impact the recent ruling on virginity tests?

The investigation into her death is one of the longest-running investigations in the country.

Hyderabad: Sister Abhaya, a Knanaya Catholic sister was found dead in a well filled with water at St Pius X Convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. The investigation into her death is one of the longest-running investigations in the country.

Although the initial inquiry pointed towards suicide, the case took multiple turns over the years. In 2022, a special court found nun Sister Sephy and catholic priest Father Thomas Kottoor guilty of the murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. It acquitted Father Jose Poothrikkayil, the third accused, for the lack of evidence.

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Who is Sister Sephy and why did she murder Sister Abhaya?

Sister Sephy was an inmate at the St. Pius convent, where Sister Abhaya, a second-year student of the BCM College, Kottayam, also lived.

On the day the latter was axed to death, she saw Father Kottoor and Sister Sephy in a compromising position, following which the three accused killed her and threw her into the well.

Father Kottoor admitted to having an illicit relationship with Sister Sephy to another person. Sister Sephy, too, admitted to sexual activity.

Interestingly, the court acknowledged evidence produced by the prosecution that Sister Sephy underwent a hymenoplasty surgery to claim that she was a virgin.

A forceful virginity test

After her arrest in the case in 2008, Sister Sephy accused the CBI of conducting a virginity test on her without her consent. She filed a writ petition in 2009 about the same.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, hearing that writ petition on Tuesday, almost 14 years later, said that a virginity test on the accused is not just unconstitutional but also violates the right to life.

Not only does such a test interfere with a woman’s bodily integrity, but it can also have a long-standing psychological impact on the woman, the court remarked.

It also observed that there is no specific scientific and medical definition for the word ‘virginity’.