The case drew national attention when India's CBI implicated a church priest in a sectarian murder tied to the Malankara Orthodox–Jacobite rivalry.
Key Facts
- Victim
- T. M. Varghese (Malankara Varghese)
- Date of murder
- 5 December 2002
- Prime accused charged
- Father Varghese Thekkekara
- CBI charge date
- 9 May 2010
- Accused's affiliation
- Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church
- Victim's role
- Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church managing committee member
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
T. M. Varghese was a member of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's managing committee and a timber merchant. While the murder was initially attributed to business rivalry, his relatives suspected it stemmed from tensions between rival factions of the historically divided Malankara church.
On 5 December 2002, Varghese was hacked to death by a gang outside a car workshop on the main central road near Perumbavoor, Kerala. The attack was organized and carried out in a public setting, indicating premeditation.
After years of investigation, India's Central Bureau of Investigation in May 2010 charged Father Varghese Thekkekara, a priest and manager of the Angamali diocese of the rival Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church, with conspiracy in the murder, naming him the prime accused and highlighting the sectarian dimension of the killing.