Politics
Why A Central Inquiry Commission Is Urgently Required To Look Into Tamil Nadu Students' 'Suicides'
- The Tamil Nadu state government, as per its own representatives, is beholden to the Church.
- Only an inquiry carried out by the Central government can bring out the truth of abuse in Christian educational institutions in the state.
Tamil Nadu and Christianity
On 26 July 2022, Monday, a Plus-Two student was found dead in the hostel room of the Sacred Hearts Girls Higher Secondary School in Kilachery, Tiruvallur district, just fifty kilometres from Chennai.
According to news reports, it was initially claimed that the child died because of the poisonous bite of some insects. The same was also reportedly informed to the parents.
It was only during the police investigations that it was confirmed that it was a death by hanging.
A news flash from 'Thanthi TV' below also states that initially it was claimed that the child died because of 'poison bite' and that police investigation has later revealed the hanging to be the cause of death.
The school belongs to a Catholic denomination.
The DMK Government in Tamil Nadu is known for its support to Christian Churches, particularly the Catholic Church.
DMK leader and the Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly M. Appavu, in his speech at the centenary celebrations of the St. Paul Seminary at Thiruchy, delivered on 29 June 2022, said that the DMK government and Dravidian movement exist because of the Catholic Church.
Given that, one needs to look at the track record of the responses of both the Catholic Church and the DMK government in similar cases from the past.
One such case involved the mysterious death of an Omallur student in 2006. She too was studying in a Catholic convent; she too was studying +2; she too was staying in the school hostel.
And she too was found dead and she too was said to have committed suicide. However, forensic reports found sperm in her private parts. Yet, the investigations were not conducted properly.
The present TN BJP leader K Annamalai, whose work as a police officer has been acclaimed, pointed out that the entire investigation looked more like an eyewash and lacked even the fundamentals of a proper probe.
The eerie resemblance to the present case is unsettling.
As Annamalai says, there is a strong possibility of a bigger Spotlight phenomenon happening in Tamil Nadu. There is also a legitimate apprehension of underreporting of cases and of predatory priests involved in paedophile cases being employed overseas. So perhaps it is time the Central Government installs an inquiry commission of not only Central intelligence agencies but also Church-abuse victims' counsellors and investigators in other countries to investigate the cases of such mysterious deaths of students in Catholic educational premises.
We do not want the Pope doing to our children what Francis is doing to the dead, indigenous children of Canada who were the victims of Church abuse.
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