Killer of nun a psychopath, says Police

Kottayam (Matters India): Police have come to the conclusion that the accused in the murder case of Sister Amala, Satheesh Babu is a psychopathic killer. “He is a very dangerous person who gets pleasure out of killing,” said ADGP K Padmakumar here on Sunday. He also said that there are indications that he is a womaniser.

“This was a mysterious case as initially the motive for the murder was unknown. There were no theft and no assault on the victim,” he said.

The accused has confessed of committing the crime and has also told about the weapon used for the crime. The officer refused to reveal more details about the weapon as it had to be recovered at the first place.

Satheesh Babu, 38, the accused was brought to Kottayam in the morning and was interrogated at the Police Club here from morning. The investigation team along with the accused landed in Nedumbassery airport from Delhi earlier in the day, The Times of India reported.

The accused was remanded in Judicial custody in the evening and the department will seek custody of him on Monday. “We will complete the investigation by keeping a 60-day target and will try to get the maximum punishment to the accused,” he added. There will also be a Special Prosecutor in the case. Satheesh originally hails from Erattupetta in Kottayam district and his family had settled down in Kasargode years back.

Meanwhile, the investigating team are not ruling out the involvement of the person in more cases similar to the one at the Lisieux Carmelite Convent in Pala where Sister Amala, 69, was found dead in her room on September 17.

The cops have also confirmed his role in the five cases reported in convents in and around Pala since November 2014. In the same convent were Sister Amala was murdered, another nun was attacked by him on September 13.

In all these cases nuns above the age of 60 were attacked. The injuries in all the cases were on the back of the head and was a “blunt wound”, said Padmakumar.

All these nuns belonged to a sub sect of the Christian community. The cops quizzed the residents of the convents in Pala, Koothattukulam, Bharanaganam and Paika and found out that nothing was stolen from all these places.

Only from Bharanaganam convent two mobile phones were stolen which later helped in tracking the accused. Cops suspect that he has been in Pala and surrounding areas for the past 2-3 years.

There was also a case registered in Vadakkanchery against him in 2009 for injuring his wife by hitting on her head. He had served seven months in jail in that case.

The investigating team was also helped by the Police dog Jil who Padmakumar termed as the real hero. According to him, the accused was present at the premises of the convent when the Police team was present at the convent on Thursday.

As the sniffer dog ran into the crowd, the accused escaped jumping over the wall which went unnoticed by the cops.

However, later on some of those present there informed the police about the incident and following an inquiry it was found that Satheesh had gone to a toddy shop where he was regular and had left the place after getting back the Rs 100 which he had paid in advance for his drinks on that day.

Police also recovered an umbrella left by Satheesh in the shop which was later found to be used by a nun. According to Kottayam SP Satheesh Bino, the accused had left for Thiruvalla station where he spent the night and travelled to Chennai without a ticket.

From Chennai he had received money from someone which the police are investigating. From Chennai he travelled to Delhi by train and reached Haridwar by road,” said Bino. The cops also thanked the priest of the Ayyappa temple Vishnu Namboothiri whose SMS message and phone calls to Satheesh’s borther in Kasargode turned crucial in tracking him.

Though police say that he is a “Lone wolf” and leads a nomadic life, he is also linked to quotation gangs in several places.

He never used to leave any traits after committing a crime. He used only one pair of dress at a time and gets it replaced from the laundry shop after 2-3 days.

He used to spend nights in toddy shops and public places. The accused who has studied till class 10 rarely went home and used to lead a mysterious life. There are also two cases of attacking the teachers while he was a student.