The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Thanjavur District Collector to make appropriate arrangements for the final rites of the deceased minor Hindu girl who allegedly committed suicide due to forced conversion and torture by a Christian school.
“I make it clear that the final rites will be performed in the customary mode and the police shall not interfere with the said performance.”, the judge said.
Justice G. R. Swaminathan presiding over a special sitting today also said that the Tamil Nadu police shoul not harass the man who took the video of the girl in which the girl mentions that the school staff had tried to convert her.
“The respondent police are restrained from harassing the person who had taken the video of the child, in which, she is found making an allegation that she was called upon to convert to Christianity.”, the Court said adding that the Police should focus on the circumstances that lead to the suicide and not go after the person who took the video.
“The learned counsel for the petitioner alleges that the parents of the deceased and the person who took the video of L…. alleging that she was asked to convert to christianity are being pressurised by the police. The respondent police shall conduct themselves appropriately so as not to give rise to such allegations.”, the judge noted in the order.
The court has also directed the police to record a statement from the parents in front of judicial magistrate and submit it to the court in a sealed cover.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also demanded an action taken report from the Tamil Nadu Police within seven days.
The 17-year-old girl died on 19th January in hospital after she consumed poison on the 9th January at the hostel of Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School at Michaelpatti in Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu.
In a video that went viral on social media, she is seen saying that the school staff told her and her parents that if she converted to Christianity, they would help her with her further studies.
According to her parents, the girl was tortured after she refused to oblige to their demand. The girl was reportedly made to clean toilets in all rooms in the hostel.
The Tamil Nadu Police had earlier denied angle of religious conversion.
The matter will be heard further at 4 pm on January 24, 2022.
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