By Matters India Reporter

Kochi: The police in Kerala have ruled out foul play in the death of a Catholic nun in the southern Indian state.

A post mortem examination done on the body of Sister Jessina Thomas suggests that she had died due to drowning in a quarry, the police told reporters February 15.

Sister Thomas, a member of the Daughters of St Thomas, was found dead February 14in the quarry close to St. Thomas Convent in Vazhakkala in Kochi, her residence for the past three years.

The police also said they could ascertain the cause of death only after they receive a chemical examination report.

The 45-year-old nun’s body had no external injuries. Samples will be sent for examination at the regional chemical lab in Kochi to ascertain the cause of death. The body was handed over to her relatives on February 15, the police said.

The police also added that they could confirm that Sister Thomas was under treatment for psychological problems since 2011 and was under mental distress recently.

Meanwhile the Daughters of St Thomas, or the Missionary Congregation of the Daughters of St. Thomas, based at Kerala’s Bharananganam, on February 15 issued a statement saying that Sister Thomas had begun showing psychological problems after she witnessed the death of another nun in a road accident in 2004 in Ujjain town in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

She also had shown suicidal tendencies on two occasions and her parents were called to the convents where she was staying, claims the statement issued by the 52-year-old first missionary congregation for women under the Syro-Malabar Church.

Sister Thomas was being treated for mental health problems at a hospital in Kakkanad for the past 10 years, the press note says.

Some other reports said the nun was under medication for the past 11 years.

The congregation has urged the media not to sensationalize the unfortunate death of its member.

The Joint Christian Council, an ecumenical group of lay people, has sought a comprehensive probe into the nun’s death.

The council points out that many similar incidents had occurred in Kerala convents in the past.

The nun’s parents said that she sounded normal when she telephoned them a day or two before the incident, said council president Felix Pulloden.

(With inputs from thehindu.com)