The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has ruled out what the Madras High Court had termed as “the conversion angle” in the suicide case of a 17-year-old girl in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. It thus denied the primary suspicion raised by the High Court when it transferred the investigation from the state police to the central agency in 2022.ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEOIn a compliance affidavit filed before the Supreme Court containing its chargesheet, the CBI has concluded that the minor, a student of Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School in Michaelpatti, took her own life due to “mental torture” from the hostel warden regarding administrative work and housekeeping chores, rather than due to any pressure to convert to Christianity.The agency has filed the chargesheet against the warden, Sister Sagaya Mary, under Section 305 of the Indian Penal Code, which punishes the abetment of suicide of a child, and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children) Act, which criminalises cruelty towards a child.CBI findingsThe affidavit states that the “allegation pertaining to the attempt of conversion by the Convent Sisters and Teachers… could not be established.”According to the CBI investigation, the 17-year-old victim was a high-performing student who had topped her school in her 10th standard exams. However, the probe revealed that the hostel warden had burdened her with non-academic responsibilities. The chargesheet details that Sister SagayaCBI Mary “continuously exploited the minor girl… by giving her entire accounts-related work of the hostel and at times even without permitting her to leave for home.” The student was unable to concentrate on her studies due to “severe mental stress and depression” caused by the warden’s scoldings, sometimes in front of other students, over mistakes in the hostel’s account books.Also in Explained | Why Bar Council of Delhi’s publication of voter details online has sparked a legal tussleThe CBI said that despite the student’s requests to focus on her upcoming board exams and complete the accounts work later, the warden “did not listen to her and tortured and scolded her to complete the accounts work immediately.” This was identified as the trigger for the suicide: the minor consumed herbicide on 9 January 2022 and died on 19 January 2022 at Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.Madras High Court orderThe CBI’s findings contrast sharply with the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court’s order of 31 January 2022, which had transferred the probe from the Tamil Nadu police to the CBI on a petition by the victim’s father.Story continues below this adJustice G R Swaminathan, in his order, had criticised the Thanjavur Superintendent of Police for holding a press conference early in the investigation to rule out the conversion angle. “The [SP] probably forgot the virtues of silence,” he wrote. “I fail to understand as to why the Thanjavur Superintendent of Police reacted as if she had come in contact with a live electric wire.”He termed the police narrative an attempt to “derail the investigation” and suggested political pressure lay behind their resistance to the conversion theory. Citing statements by the state education minister, the education department, and the DMK’s IT wing dismissing that theory, the order said this “raises considerable doubts about the credibility and impartiality of the investigation made by the State police.” The order stated that the police were building a “counter-narrative” to blame the minor’s father and stepmother for the suicide, rather than investigating the school management.The order also made several theological and popular culture references to make the case that the allegation of conversion was “not inherently improbable”.Also Read | Marriage registration in Gujarat: Parental consent provision flies in the face of rights, court rulingsIt cited the “Great Commission” from the Bible, specifically the instruction to “go and make disciples of all nations”, as evidence of an evangelical imperative. It invoked the 2020 Hindi film Serious Men and the 1985 Tamil film Kalyana Agathigal to illustrate the societal reality of religious conversion, reasoning that whilst such references may seem unusual in a constitutional court judgment, “Art reflects life” and films “contain a kernel of truth.” The order also drew on Constituent Assembly debates, noting that some Christian members had “batted for the right to convert even minor children.”Video evidenceStory continues below this adThe conversion theory stemmed largely from a private video recorded at the father’s instance while the child was hospitalised, in which she answered affirmatively when asked if she was being pressured to convert. However, the CBI analysed four separate dying declarations given by the child — to a doctor, a judicial magistrate, the district child welfare officer, and a police officer — and found that she “made specific allegations relating to mental torture caused by accused Sister Sagaya Mary” but did not mention conversion. Dying declarations carry high evidentiary value in court.The CBI report notes that while the private video contained allegations of conversion, the investigation revealed that the child’s suicide was driven by the harassment she faced from the warden. The agency concluded that while the warden’s actions constituted abetment of suicide, the religious motive could not be substantiated by witness statements or material evidence gathered from the school and hostel.The agency also noted that of 677 students at the school in 2021–22, 444 were Hindu, 219 Christian and 14 Muslim, and that scrutiny of transfer certificates showed none had converted while leaving the school.What happens next?The matter is before the Supreme Court following an appeal by the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police against the 2022 High Court order. With the CBI’s investigation now concluded, the case will proceed to trial for framing of charges against Sister Sagaya Mary for abetment of suicide and cruelty.