Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to a Catholic priest and a nun convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 21-year-old Sister Abhaya, whose body was found in the well of a convent in Kottayam, Kerala, in 1992.

A bench of Justices K. Vinod Chandran and C. Jayachandran suspended the execution of the sentences of Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy and granted them bail subject to each of them furnishing a bond of Rs 5 lakh.

Abhaya, a second-year student of BCM College, had been staying at the St Pious convent. According to the prosecution, she witnessed an illicit relationship between the three accused — Father Thomas Kottoor, Sister Sephy and Fr Jose Puthrikkayil — following which they hacked her and threw her into the well.