Chennai: The Madras High Court in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Monday ordered the person, who shot the video of the 17-year-old girl alleging forced conversion, to appear for inquiry and submit the mobile phone tomorrow in the Thanjavur girl’s death case.
The court directed the investing officer to send the mobile phone to the Forensic Sciences Department in Chennai and submit a report on the authenticity of the video by January 27.
The far right national political party BJP and a few other right-wing outfits in the state have blamed “forced conversion” as the reason for the suicide of a 17-year-old girl student who was studying in a Christian school and staying in a hostel run by a Christian missionary.
Though police have ruled out religious conversion angle, BJP insists that the girl took the extreme step of taking her own life due to pressure from the warden on her to convert to Christianity.
The petition was moved by the father of the 17-year-old girl seeking CBCID inquiry came for hearing before Justice GR Swaminathan.
Petitioner informed the court that they have recorded their statement with the judicial magistrate as per the direction.
Justice GR Swaminathan, after going through the statement submitted in the sealed cover, questioned the authenticity of the video.
Replying to the question, counsel appearing for the Government informed the court that they have added 37 people as witnesses in the case and so far has enquired 14 people, but the mobile phone used for recording the video is necessary for verifying the authenticity of the video. The Government Counsel also requested a week’s time to file a detailed report.
Following the submission, the Justice questioned whether the video cannot be verified from the CD submitted by the parents along with their statement.
The Court also ordered the parents of the 17-year-old girl to appear for the inquiry and directed the inquiring officer to send the mobile phone to the Forensic Sciences Department in Chennai and submit a report on the authenticity of the video by 27th January. Next hearing on 28th January.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council (TNBC) urged political forces not to religious color to student’s death. Archbishop Antony Pappusamy, president of the council, in a statement said, “Religious and political forces that have not attempted to know the real reason behind this regrettable incident in the school are attempting to divert the issue by taking the false campaign of ‘religious conversion’ and are trying to disturb the communal harmony through this campaign”.
The prelate further added, “It was ‘amusing’ to see BJP State president K. Annamalai raising slogans over ‘religious conversion.” Instead of demanding legal, appropriate investigation into the incident, the Archbishop of Madurai said and contended in the statement titled ‘Don’t give religious color to student’s death’: “We are not considering statements of Mr. Annamalai and his likes in isolation but as a part of the false slogans by majoritarian religious and political forces across the country.”
Maintaining that the TNBC would always support the steps taken by the government, he requested the Tamil Nadu government and police to undertake a neutral investigation into the death of the student. Pointing out that those from “majoritarian communities” form the majority in institutions run by “Christian minorities,” the Archbishop rejected charges that the girl student in the said school was forced to convert.
Regretting the death of the student and expressing condolences to the bereaved family, the TNBC president said it did not have any objection to taking legal action against anyone, who was responsible for the death of the girl. If the arrest of the 62-year-old warden was a legal step, the TNBC said it respected the action of the police in this regard. It also welcomed the action of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in connection with the case.