TIRUCHY./MADURAI: Days after the alleged religious conversion row following the death of a 17-year-old girl in Thanjavur district, the School Education Department inquiry said there was no religious preaching on the campus by the staff. The inquiry report released on Thursday said there was “not a single complaint” from students when the Chief Educational Officer and other officials of the department conducted inspection a total of 16 times since February 2011.
The department ordered for the inquiry after the allegation of conversion was levelled against the school at Michaelpatty near Tirukattupalli in Thanjavur. The BJP, led by its State president K Annamalai, took up the issue by uploading a video clip of the girl speaking prior to her death on his social media account.
The video was allegedly recorded when the girl was on death bed and it stirred a controversy as the BJP accused the school of attempting forced conversion leading to her death. The BJP staged protests across the State, demanding proper inquiry into the death. The girl’s parents moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, seeking to transfer the case to the CB-CID.
It may be noted that BJP’s Thanjavur district minority wing secretary Kottai David countered his party’s allegation and said that there was no conversion angle to it. Apart from chronology of the incident, the report also detailed that as many as 5, 270 Hindu students, 2,290 Christian students and 179 Muslims students studied in the school since 2013. In 2021-22 alone, out of 677 total students on the campus, 444 were Hindus, 219 were Christians and 14 were Muslims. Citing the data, the department said the number of Hindu students was higher than that of Christians in the school.
Earlier in the day, another video of the girl, allegedly shot during the same time with the first video, surfaced. In the video, a man is heard asking the girl questions, including whether she was asked to remove her ‘bindi’ by the school, to which she responds in the negative. The video set off debates.
BJP formed a four-member committee to visit the place of the incident and submit a report to the party high command. According to the statement released by BJP’s national general secretary Arun Singh, the committee, constituted by its national president J P Nadda, comprises MP of Madhya Pradesh Sandhya Ray, Vijayashanti of Telangana, Chitra Tai Wagh of Maharashtra and Geetha Vivekananda of Karnataka. Also, the Thanjavur police, as per the directions of the Madurai Bench, has been conducting investigation after seizing the mobile phone which was used to shoot the video.
Meanwhile, Provincial General of Immaculate Heart of Mary Provincialate Sr Rosari filed an impleading petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC, stating that the congregation’s intention was not to interfere in the investigation into the case by the Tirukkattupalli police or any other investigating agency. The case would be heard by Justice GR Swaminathan on Friday.