Police say the girl did not complain about the alleged conversion. (Representative)
Chennai:
A 17-year-old girl student in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district died on Wednesday after she attempted suicide alleging misbehavior and Christianizing her family.
After the girl’s death, an unverified video has now surfaced in which she suspects that her refusal to change her family’s faith may have led to abuse by her hostel warden. NDTV could not independently verify the video.
In the video, the girl can be heard saying, “Two years ago they asked my parents and me to convert to Christianity. They said they would take care of my education.” Asked if she was targeted for not converting, she says ‘maybe’.
The girl’s parents have also demanded a probe into the allegations of conversion.
The higher secondary student had attempted suicide on January 9 and died on January 19. The hostel warden has been arrested under the Juvenile Act, as well as sections for abetment of suicide on the basis of the girl’s allegations that he forced her to clean the place apart from the administration and maintenance work.
Police officials say that neither the girl nor her family had complained about the alleged conversion. SP Ravali Priya Gandhapuneni, SP Ms. Ravali Priya Gandhapuneni said, “We had video-recorded his complaint, his statement given to the judicial magistrate and his pre-death statement. He didn’t say anything about conversion. Neither did his parents.” made this allegation. We are now probing this allegation as well.” Thanjavur told NDTV.
The authority is also looking for the person who shot the video to verify the authenticity of the video and the motive behind its release. “The identity of the minor girl has been revealed. This is a violation,” the official said.
Meanwhile, state BJP president K Annamalai, who also shared the video of the minor girl on Twitter, has called for a fair investigation and arrest of those responsible. Describing conversion as a rapidly spreading poisonous plant, Annamalai urged the state government to “control” it.
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