Lalita (name changed) hails from Vadugapalayam village in Ariyalur district. She is a student of Thirukattupali Sacred Heart High School. She was pursuing her 12th grade in the school.
The child’s friends and relatives note that she was a bright student and was very focused on her studies.
The school, which is a Christian institution, had forced Lalita to convert to Christianity. However, she refused to do the same.
The administration that was angered by Lalita’s resistance to convert, refused to send her home during the Pongal holidays. Instead, she was forced to stay at the school and made to do chores such as cleaning toilets of the school, washing dishes and cooking. A disheartened Lalita has attempted suicide due to this reason by consuming pesticides used in gardens.
She first vomited on the night of January 9 and was taken to a nearby clinic. As the vomiting continued, the warden of the hostel called her parents and asked them to take her home. When she went back home, Lalita had not disclosed that she had drunk pesticides.
In this situation, she was admitted to the Tanjore Government Medical college hospital. The child who consumed poison had almost 85% of her lungs affected. She was being treated in the Intensive Care Unit.
A tweet shows the child’s last few words, where she describes the tortures she was put through in the school.
“My names is Lalita. They (school) had asked my parents in my presence if they can convert me to Christianity and help her for further studies. Since I didn’t accept, they kept scolding me.”, she says in the video. She also named one Rachael Mary who had allegedly tortured her.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Munnani and other Hindu organizations had come in support of the child. On speaking to VHP State Spokesperson Arumuga Kani, he said, “The Vishwa Hindu Parishad will not rest until justice given to the student Lalita. As a first step, VHP is to hold a hunger strike today (19th January) under the leadership of Thanjvur district secretary Muthuvel. We need to ensure that such incidents don’t happen again. Until then, we will protest.”
A Christian School trys to convert a student and she attempts suicide… Listen to what the Padres have done…. pic.twitter.com/S3fg3iWczH
— Indu Makkal Katchi (Offl) 🇮🇳 (@Indumakalktchi) January 19, 2022
(With inputs from Mission Kali)
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.