Kottayam, Oct 2 (IANS) : The body of an 83-year-old nun Sister Jose Maria was exhumed, near here, on Friday for conducting an autopsy after it was revealed that she was actually murdered instead of dying a natural death in April.

The autopsy was done by a forensic team in the presence of Kottayam district police chief Satish Beno. It was done quite near the graveyard, cordoned off by police. The deceased nun's relatives were also present.

She had died after spending a few days in hospital.

It was then believed that Sister Maria died of injuries she suffered due to a fall in the bathroom at the convent where she was residing. Since she passed away later in the hospital, no autopsy was performed.

But things changed after Kerala Police arrested Satish Babu, 38, from Hardiwar last month for murdering Sister Amala, 69, at a convent in Pala near here.

According to police, he had a peculiar fetish for nuns. He used to derive some sort of sadistic pleasure from attacking elderly nuns.

During questioning, Babu revealed that he had killed Sister Maria by hitting her on her head with a wooden club.

"An FIR has already been registered in the new case. We will now wait for the scientific report, for which the autopsy has just been done," said Beno, Kottayam district police chief, to reporters.

Babu was arrested in Haridwar last Thursday after Kerala Police traced a phone call made by the accused to his brother in Kasargod town. He was brought to Kerala last Sunday.