Supreme Court allows CBI to probe the suicide of 17-year-old from Thanjavur 

The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has been allowed by the Supreme Court to probe into the 17-year-old Thanjavur girls' suicide case who, allegedly, was forced to embrace Christianity.

It was on the appeal filed by the DGP (Director General of Police) of Tamil Nadu that a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi issued the notice, as per a report in PTI.   

Firstly, there are certain observations that have been recorded in the impugned judgment and secondly, the final order directing the probe by the CBI — these are the two aspects in the matter that the court went on to highlight. It went on to state that though it might not be appropriate for the court to interject in the investigation by the CBI, it would issue a notice on the first aspect. 

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"Issue notice returnable in three weeks. In the meanwhile, the investigation in terms of the impugned order to continue," the bench said, as quoted by PTI.

It was on January 31 that the high court transferred the probe to the CBI. 

It was after a high-ranking minister had taken a stand that the court stated that the state police cannot continue with the investigation. It said that it has a duty to render "posthumous justice" to the 17-year-old child and that the circumstances create an impression that the investigation is not proceeding on the right lines. 

The 17-year-old student of a missionary school in Thanjavur belonged to Ariyalur district and had died by suicide. She was a house inmate and allegedly was being forced to convert to Christianity. Even a video regarding the same had gone viral. While the school management rejected the allegations and blamed it on vested interests, the victim's father had demanded a CB-CID investigation.