The murder case of sister Abhaya, a Catholic nun, a case that has intrigued Kerala for years, will make its journey to Bollywood. Aditya Joshi and Ajay Chhabria, who make films based on real incidents will produce the film. Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan is likely to play the lead role.
The screenplay will be written based on the autobiography of Jomon Puthenpurackal, titled Abhaya Case Diary. Jomon Puthenpurackal is a human rights activist who has been fighting Abhaya murder case for the past 25 years. Aditya Joshi has already met Jomon to discuss the case and develop the script accordingly.
Abhaya case was earlier made into a Malayalam film called Crime File. According to Jomon, the film didn’t do justice to reality.
“If Abhaya case is made into a Bollywood film, it is bound to get national attention. An incident like Abhaya case which has dragged on for as long as 25 years needs to be discussed on a bigger platform. Cinema is the medium to narrate a complicated story like that of sister Abhaya’s. This will be the first of its kind in Indian history.”
Jomon will receive a royalty of Rs 10 Lakh for the movie screenplay that will be based on his autobiography. Irrfan will play Jomon Puthenpurackal in the film and the production is expected to be complete in a year’s time, says Jomon.. Shooting will be entirely based in Kerala.
Abhaya Case
Sister Abhaya was murdered on March 27, 1992 in the Pius Tenth Convent in Kottayam. Her body was found in a well in the convent. The local police and Crime branch after the investigation closed the case as suicide attempt. After a year, in 1993, the case was re-opened and taken up by CBI. The investigation was led by the then DySp Varghese P Thomas. It was Varghese who declared Abhaya case as a murder case, before he put down his resignation on December 31, 2003.
In 2008, CBI made three arrests as part of the investigation. Two priests (Fr. Thomas Kottoor and Fr. Jose Poothrikkayil) and a nun (Sr. Sephy) were arrested. In 2009 CBI submitted the charge sheet. The case at present is under trial in the CBI special court. The case will be considered again on November 13.