New Delhi, Mar 04: Giving some reality check to the Tamil Nadu Police in Lavanya's forced conversion case, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in its report revealed that the police did not even file a complaint about the conversion of religion, which was the cause of the suicide, according to the family.

 

 

In its inquiry report, which was sent to the chief secretary and DGP of the Tamil Nadu government, NCPCR stated that the team noticed several procedural lapses during the inquiry. It confirmed that there might exist a possibility of tampering with evidence in the absence of proper compliance with the due procedure of law. The team also observed that the crime scene was not sealed and cordoned for the investigation by the local police, leading to a possibility of evidence tampering, said the report.

 

The report pointed out that the prime accused in the same was the warden of the boarding who had also not been taken on Police Remand, the NCPCR report pointed out.

 

 

 

The NCPCR said in its report stated that the statutory body had taken cognisance of this incident only after it received ‘3545 odd complaints’ pertaining to initiate inquiry against the allegations in connection to this incident."

 

Reports also say that the school did not let Lavanya's mother take off the dead body of Lavanya till they the paid full fee for the victim. The Commission observed that no inquiry had taken place against this action of the school authorities for taking a fee from the mother of the deceased child.

 

The report also noted that the minor victim had stopped wearing jewelry and bindi/tika. It also stated that when the deceased got 1st rank in class 10th, Racheal Mary (who was named in the dying declaration video that went viral) had asked her and her entire family to convert to Christianity to get good marks in the future.

 

In its recommendations, NCPCR has asked the Chief Secretary and the DGP to take action against the district authorities who had failed to take action as per JJ Act, 2015 despite the school housing children without a valid registration and to provide necessary counseling, compensation, and assistance to the parents and the brother of the deceased girl.

 

It has also been recommended that the government should inquire how many such institutes are functioning under the Tamil Nadu Hostel and Homes for Women and Children Regulation) Act 2014 and Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and provide a list of the same to NCPCR.

 

It has also asked them to shift all the children residing in the said CCI following due procedure immediately. Moreover, it has also asked the DGP to take disciplinary action against the district police officials for not following the due process of investigation and conducting a fair investigation.

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