By Matters India Reporter
Karunagappally: The body of a 42-year-old Catholic nun was found April 16 in a well of a convent at Kureepuzha near Karunagappally town in Kollam district of Kerala, report Malayalam news channels.
The deceased was identified as Sister Mable Joseph, a member of the Pious Workers of St. Joseph, an Italian congregation that manages Maria Agnes English Medium School in Kureepuzha.
A suicide note recovered from the nun’s room said that she was taking the drastic step as she is unable to bear the physical difficulties and the issues related to allergy.
The note said that her body would be in the well of St Joseph’s Convent. “Nobody is responsible for my death. Keep me in your prayers,” the note further read.
The letter was found in a search conducted for her after she was not seen for the morning prayers. The body was later found in the well.
The native of Pavumba in Karunagappally reportedly reached the convent a month back.
Sister Joseph was among more than 20 Catholic nuns who died in mysterious circumstances in Kerala in the past few decades.
Catholic groups have recently asked church authorities to take steps to dispel a growing mistrust in society regarding religious life and the deaths of John and other sisters.
On May 7, 2020, the body of Divya P. John, a 21-year-old novice with the Basilian Sisters near Thiruvalla, was found in a well at the convent. An autopsy found drowning as the cause of death, but no time of death was given. Church officials did not seek a police crime scene investigation into the mystery of how she died, labeling the tragedy a probable suicide.
The most publicized and sensational case was the death of Sister Abhaya, a member of St. Joseph’s Congregation whose body was found in the convent well in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. It became the longest running murder investigation in Kerala. Police initially closed it as a suicide case in 1993.
Kerala, where almost all of the unnatural deaths of nuns have occurred, is home to nearly 35,000 women religious, about a third of all Catholic sisters in India.
The following are 10 cases of nuns who met with unnatural deaths:
Sacred Heart Sister Jyothis, 28, was found dead inside a convent well in the Thamarassery Diocese in northern Kerala in November 1998. Local police said she committed suicide. Her father rejected the suicide theory and said he believed she was killed.
Sister Paulsi, 35, of the indigenous Snehagiri (“mountain of love”) Missionary Sisters, was found dead May 25, 2000, at her convent in the Palai Diocese.
Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Anoopa Mary, 23, was found hanging in her room in St. Mary’s Convent in Kollam, Kerala, on Aug. 11, 2008. A suicide note in her pocket said she had been unhappy and told of a dispute with her superior.
Six months later, on Feb. 11, 2009, Daughters of Mary Sister Josephine, 38, died in the congregation’s provincial house in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala’s state capital. A press release from the Syro-Malankara archdiocese said she had been undergoing treatment for depression. Nuns in the convent found her room bolted from the inside and broke the door open to find her hanging from the ceiling fan. Sister Josephine’s death led to protesting crowds alleging she had been harassed by the nuns.
Up the western coast, in Goa state, Handmaids of Christ Sr. Dipti Brahmane was found dead in the well of her convent in Raia village on July 26, 2010. The congregation reported that the 24-year-old nun was under medication for depression.
In the first of two unnatural deaths in 2011 in Kerala, Holy Spirit Sr. Mary Ancy, a 48-year-old teacher, was found dead Aug. 17, 2011, in a wastewater tank in Poonkulam, near Thiruvananthapuram. Her family rejected a suicide theory and demanded police investigate the death. A postmortem report found no signs of struggle and that she was conscious when she entered the water.
On Oct. 10, 2011, Maria Roslin, 16, a novice of Our Lady of Mercy Convent in Aroor, was found hanging from a ceiling fan. A convent witness told police the novice was depressed after her father was in an accident. Police called it a “clear case of suicide.”
Sister Liza Maria, 42, a member of the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, was found dead Dec. 1, 2015, in a convent well in Uluppooni near Vagamon, a tourist resort in Kerala’s Idukki district. A priest said she was undergoing treatment for depression.
Sr. Susan Mathew, 54, a teacher and member of the Mount Tabor Convent under the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, was found dead Sept. 9, 2018. Her body, with deep cuts on her wrists, was floating inside the convent well at Pathanapuram in Kollam district. Police classified her case as an unnatural death as there was no clarity on whether it was a murder or suicide. Mathew had been under treatment for a long illness, police said.
In Karnataka, a neighboring state of Kerala, Sr. Mary Sendra Vianney, 28, a member of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Convent, was found dead on Dec. 4, 2019. Her severed body was discovered on railroad tracks near Hubli town. Police were investigating possibilities of suicide or foul play.
Sad.
Something seriously wrong in the selection of candidates and their formation.
RIP
PL COVER ALL WELLS WITH GRILLS
Good in this case there is a clear suicide note , but do not show us all are suicide cases , Moreover if Sisters and Priest are doing suicide means some corrective actions and preventive action with required study by Church administration instead of keeping silent declaring suicide
You have done well (no pun intended) to document these cases. Kerala prided itself on quantity of “vocations”, turning a blind eye to “quality”. The church in Kerala is like frogs in the well (again no pun intended).
I suspect that congregations in Kerala are suppressive and regressive. The same people when they come out are far better.
I have said before that the entire church in Kerala is in dire need of aggiornamento. The church in Kerala cannot say “All is well” when the well-being of the sisters is at stake. Wake up.
Its a sad happening every now and then. Its highly difficult today to undertake the proper selection of candidates to religious and priestly life. But its a high time that some system in collaboration with the family and better understanding of person’s desire is discerned well as much as possible. It should no more be ‘Come we take you’ but rather ‘come, know us and make your choice’ with clear and proper undertaking. Still it is not a full proof policy. Could family be involved in the process of formation and the growth of a person!!! How much and how long!!!
May she rest in eternity.
Sad… how many more drownings in the wells will it take till we – the Church- address the serious issue? Silence is political.
Sorry to hear of this suicide. Apart from the possibilities of real crimes in these cases, we must also examine the general atmosphere in our convents and see whether life is pleasant, fraternal, whether authority is oppressive or supportive, etc. My impression is that in many convents the sisters live in constant low levels of fear that creates tension. They may even be shy of revealing their health issues openly, maybe out of fear, or shame or even a false sense of humility, self-sacrifice and virtue. We need to make our convents and religious houses into real homes and families where openness, listening and understanding are the norms rather than rules, regulations, and compliance. This is not a judgement on any congregation or convents, but a general sharing. When a religious house is like a family, we less likely to see suicides and accidents.
All the wells in the convents across Kerala are in urgent need of protection from nuns (and others) intent on bringing bad name to them. These well are meant for storing life giving water and not to take away life.