Conversion-suicide case: TN moves SC against CBI probe

The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court order directing a CBI probe into suicide of a 17-year-old girl on her father's petition amid allegations of forced conversion.

The father of the deceased has also filed a caveat requesting the apex court not to pass any order, without hearing him in the matter.

In a video, the girl purportedly stated that her school warden allegedly asked her to convert to Christianity, but she turned down the request and since then, she was troubled.

The 17-year-old girl, studying at a school in Michaelpatti, consumed poison on January 9 and died on January 19 at a hospital. The police have registered a case.

The Tamil Nadu government, through the DGP, challenged the validity of the order passed by a single judge bench of the high court's Madurai bench.

The high court ordered the transfer of the case to the CBI, days after a 45-second video was released in which the girl is purportedly heard saying the warden of a Christian residential school asked her parents to convert to Christianity. It also made strong observations against the Tamil Nadu government and Thanjavur district police over their attempts to disrupt the investigation.

The Tamil Nadu government, in the petition, has questioned the order, citing that the police and the Education Minister, had ruled out a conversion angle in the matter.

On January 21, the girl's father filed the petition seeking a CB-CID probe but later he sought a CBI probe.

The mobile phone which was used to record the girl's video has been sent to a forensic lab in Chennai for examination on the court's directions.