No conversion bid in girl’s suicide: Govt

According to the report of the officer, a total of 444 Hindu students, 219 Christian students and 405 Muslim students are studying in the school. “Regular inspections are conducted in the school every year by school education department officials. There were no complaints regarding religious conversion by students during the inspections,” the report said. The report added that even though the school is run by a Christian missionary, majority of students are Hindu. There are no religious campaigns by headmasters and teachers among the students, it further stated. The deceased student was in the school since class 8 and she scored highest marks in the recent exams, the report added.

Meanwhile, BJP national president JP Nadda on Thursday constituted a four-member committee to ascertain the facts leading to the 17-year-old girl student’s death by suicide in Thanjavur, and submit a report to him soon.

The panel, comprising Parliamentarian Sandhya Ray from Madhya Pradesh, Vijayashanti from Telangana, Chitra Tai Wagh of Maharashtra and Geetha Vivekananda of Karnataka, would visit Thanjavur to ascertain the facts. “The committee would submit a report to him at the earliest,” Arun Singh, BJP national general secretary, said. The suicide of the plus two student stoked a row in the state with the BJP and Hindu organisations alleging that her death was triggered by an attempt to forcibly convert her to Christianity - a charge denied by the authorities and school management.