In the latest development regarding the Lavanya suicide case, the Madras High Court on Friday 28th January 2022 has reserved the order on the petition filed by Lavanya’s father seeking a proper investigation in this case. The court reserved its orders after Justice GR Swaminathan heard the arguments of the petitioner, the Prosecution & the School. M Lavanya, a student of standard 12th in Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thirukattupali in Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, had committed suicide after she was allegedly tortured by her school authorities for refusing to convert to Christianity.
A petition was filed by the father of the deceased girl seeking a proper investigation in this case. Justice GR Swaminathan heard the argument of all the parties involved. ‘Live Law India’ has tweeted to inform people about the proceedings. Let’s peep into what actually happened in the courtroom.
Tanjavur Girl’s Suicide: Madras High Court Reserves Order On Plea For CBI Probe https://t.co/ZJXTZqS3DQ
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) January 28, 2022
‘We don’t trust the investigation as the video evidences are leaked’: Petitioner
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the girl had complained about harassment in the hostel. The petitioner counsel added while explaining the nature of the harassment, “She was made to do other works including accounting works. She complained that she won’t be able to study amid such works.”
The petitioner’s counsel further said “It is a matter to be investigated how the girl could obtain poison in the hostel. Statements made by the victim to third parties shortly before her death are to be taken as direct evidence. The principle of res gestae applies. So those statements cannot be questioned.”
Putting a question mark on the SP presenting to the press conference in a hurry, the petitioner’s counsel said “Immediately after the death of the child, the SP gave a press statement that there was no allegation of religious conversion in the FIR. The interview was given by police when there was an agitation to take action. After the agitation, the police took the complaint & arrested one person who is remanded to custody. After that parents moved this petition for change of investigation agency.”
On leaking of the video evidence, the petitioner’s counsel argued “The dying declaration given to the Magistrate was shown in TV. How can it be leaked? There are guidelines on dying declaration that dying declaration should not be made public until the final report is filed.”
Accusing police of leaking this video evidence, the petitioner’s lawyer said “In this case, the dying declaration recorded by the Magistrate has been published. It cannot be from the Court. Only through the police, it has been published in the news and social media. We have seen in social media two clippings in which she categorically stated about religious conversion. After Court’s direction, we appeared before the police. After handing over the sets, another video has been published. We have lost faith in the investigation. They have done injustice to the little girl. She was studying well. She has meted out some cruelty. In her own voice, she said two years back there was an attempt to convert.”
Seeking a thorough investigation by some central agency, the petitioner’s lawyer concluded “By releasing confidential information, they are creating a debate. We have lost faith. For fair investigation, the case has to be transferred to CBI.”
‘Muthuvel, who shot the video, is not cooperating’: Prosecution
The prosecution in response has argued that the one who has shot the video is not cooperating with the investigators of the case now. The prosecution lawyer argued “Alleged incident happened on 09.01.2022. She was taken to various hospitals. On 15.01.2022, she was admitted to Tanjavur Medical Hospital. There only it was found that she consumed poison. From 09.01 till 15.01, it was not known. On 15, it was found by a government doctor. Next day FIR registered and dying declaration recorded.”
The prosecution further added “We have recorded the statement of Muthuvel and asked to all he circulated. A forensic examination is going on. We are investigating all angles. We want to bring the truth. How many videos we don’t know. Because Muthuvel is not cooperating with the investigation. As of today, he is not cooperating with the investigation. We are not suppressing anything. We are doing our best to find out the truth.”
‘We are into education for last 300 years. We don’t convert’: Missionary school
The missionary’s school in whose hostel the incident has happened has attempted to act naive in the courtroom by saying that they are into education for the last 300 years and to convert Hindus is not their mission. Xavier Arulraj who argued for the school has said that the school is deeply pained by the demise of the girl.
He further added “Majority of our students are Hindus. The majority of our staff are Hindus. We don’t discriminate on basis of religion. We follow a secular approach. We do not shy away from any investigation. But the allegations in the petition are very serious. We don’t do the conversion. That is not our mission. We have been in the education field for many years. No complaints so far.”
Converting Hindus in exchange for food, economic support, and medical assistance has been an old strategy of Christian missionaries in India. The argument of the school’s lawyer also underlined the so-called welfare agenda of the institute as he said “The girl was more attracted to the institution than her home. She generally does not go home for a short vacation. Due to lockdown, she had to go home. We tendered her fees and medicine whenever needed.”
After hearing all these arguments, Justice Swaminathan has kept the order reserved.
