The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has submitted its report on the death of the minor girl from Thanjavur district who had allegedly committed suicide due to torture at her school.
The report pointed out that there were several procedural lapses in the way the investigation was conducted by the investigation officers.
The report also stated that the investigating authorities ignored all pleas made by the family to investigate about the minor girl being forced to convert to Christianity and added that they were trying to conceal material facts pertaining to the ‘care given’ to the child while she was staying at the child care institute.
The report also noted that the minor victim had stopped wearing jewellery and bindi/tika. It also stated that when the deceased got 1st rank in class 10th, Racheal Mary (who was named in the dying declaration video that went viral) had asked her and her entire family to convert into Christianity in order to get good marks in future.
However, News 7 Tamil, a popular Tamil mainstream news channel peddled half-truth saying that the report by National Commission Commission for Protection of Child Rights does not mention conversion as the reason for the death.
DMK’s mouthpiece Kalaignar TV and an alleged journalist from Puthiya Thalaimurai too spread news that the report made no mention of conversion.
In light of this, legal activist collective named Legal Rights Protection Forum, has asked filed a complaint with the Press Information Bureau to take appropriate action against News 7 Tamil.
In its petition, the LRPF has also asked PIB to direct Twitter o suspend the handle of the ‘News 7 Tamil’ for spreading misinformation.
PIB through its official handles had also called out the fake news spread by News 7 Tamil.
.@news7tamil citing a report by the 'National Commission for Protection of Child Rights' has claimed that conversion was not the reason for the death of Ariyalur student Lavanya.#PIBFactCheck
▶️This claim is #Fake.
▶️No such conclusion has been drawn in @NCPCR_'s report. https://t.co/qdXmcIvfAf pic.twitter.com/5KyWmeTRd5
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 3, 2022
The misleading tweet by News 7 Tamil has now been deleted.
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