Accept body, bury it: HC tells parents of Tamil Nadu girl who killed self over forced conversion
India Today
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has directed the parents of a Class 12 student who killed herself after allegedly being forced to convert to Christianity to accept the girl’s body and bury her.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has directed the parents of a Class 12 student who killed herself after allegedly being forced to convert to Christianity to accept the girl’s body and bury her.
The 17-year-old girl's relatives had been protesting against taking her body, demanding that action be taken against the school and hostel. The student's father filed a petition in the Madurai branch of the Madras High Court seeking an order to transfer the case to the CBCID.
The judge who heard the petition instructed Thirukattupalli police to investigate the case.
Following a re-appeal by the petitioner, Judge GR Swaminathan took up the plea as an urgent matter on Saturday. The judge said the body of the student should be received by the parents and buried.
The judge noted that prior to her death, the girl recorded a video, since shared on social media, in which she claimed that the school management had coerced her to convert to Christianity.
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“The Tanjore Superintendent of Police has stated that action will be taken to find the person who took the video. The body of the student has already been autopsied by the forensic doctors of Tanjore Medical College. There is no suspicion of sexual harassment. Therefore, there is no need for re-examination. I request the parents of the student to retrieve the body,” the court said.
