The VHP and BJP exploited a dying Tamil Nadu teenager to push Hindutva agenda

Seven months into his tenure as Tamil Nadu BJP president, K Annamalai launched one of his biggest political campaigns, following the tragic suicide of 17-year-old Lavanya in Thanjavur. Annamalai alleged that Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, where Lavanya was studying, pressured her to convert to Christianity, driving her to take her own life.

The student’s death on January 19, 2022 ignited a communal campaign, with the right-wing ecosystem amplifying claims of ‘rampant coerced conversions’. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) led protests accusing the DMK government of permitting ‘forced conversions’ in Tamil Nadu’s schools, which dominated national headlines for weeks.

Two years later, a CBI investigation has concluded that the student’s death was caused by harassment from her hostel warden, not pressure to convert. The probe also revealed that a local VHP leader exploited the child on her deathbed to further a Hindutva narrative. The CBI says in its chargesheet, that TNM has accessed, that Lavanya’s parents were under the influence of a VHP leader and some BJP leaders of Thanjavur.

Video recorded by VHP leader

Annamalai was the first to tweet a video of Lavanya on January 20, 2022, a day after her death. This 47-second video, recorded by VHP leader Muthuvel, showed a hospitalised Lavanya stating that two years earlier, a nun named Rachael Mary from her school had approached her parents about her converting to Christianity, assuring them that she would take care of her studies after that. This was, however, not mentioned in the complaint given by the family or in any of Lavanya’s statements recorded by the police or in her subsequent dying declaration to a Judicial Magistrate.

Lavanya was in the hospital after she fell sick on January 9 while at school and the hostel warden, Sister Sagaya Mary, informed her parents to pick her up from the hostel. Later, Lavanya was taken to KVS Hospital in Ariyalur. The doctors there told her parents that her condition was critical. The parents requested a referral to Thanjavur Medical College Hospital, as it was convenient for them. According to the CBI, it was not until January 15 that Lavanya revealed that she had consumed herbicide to anyone, including doctors. The case was converted into a Medico Legal Case (MLC) and the next day, Lavanya’s dying declaration was recorded by Muhammed Ali, Judicial Magistrate 1 of Thanjavur.

The CBI chargesheet says that Lavanya’s parents – father Muruganandam and stepmother Saranya – became anxious and curious to know what she had told the police and the magistrate, primarily because the stepmother did not enjoy a good relationship with Lavanya and her two brothers. On January 16, Murugananadam reached out to his relative Ayyarappan for help.

“Muruganandam and his wife Saranya informed Ayyarappan that two years ago a sister at the hostel had tried to influence them to convert Lavanya to Christianity,” the chargesheet says. It was after this that the VHP came into the picture.

Ayyapparan contacted Muthuvel, the VHP’s Ariyalur district secretary. On January 17, the hospital informed the parents that there was 85 percent damage to Lavanya’s organs such as the lungs, liver, and kidney due to infection and that her chances of recovery were low. This, however, did not stop Muthuvel from going into the Toxicology ward of the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital to record Lavanya’s video around 3 pm. 

The first video that Muthuvel recorded was for 2 minutes and 24 seconds, but in that Lavanya did not speak about any attempts at conversion; instead the child described how she was harassed by the hostel warden and made to do administrative, cleaning, and other tasks that kept her away from studies.

“Lavanya stated that if this situation continues she may score low marks in the exam and hence she consumed poison. From the above conversation, it is revealed that Lavanya was unable to concentrate on her studies due to other work extracted by sister (accused). However, Lavanya did not say anything about attempt made, if any, by sister to convert her to Christianity,” (sic) says the chargesheet.

Since Muthuvel did not get what he wanted, he went back into the room half-an-hour later and recorded another video. This is the 47-second video in which Lavanya recalled that another nun, not the one accused of harassing her, had suggested conversion to her parents two years ago.

It wasn’t just Muthuvel. A video running into 2 minutes and 50 seconds was recorded by Esani Sivam, who is a member of Hindu Munnani, on the night of January 17. “The verbatim of the conversation between Lavanya, Saranya and Esani Sivam in the video clearly establishes that Lavanya was given hostel accounts work frequently and she was not allowed to study,” the CBI chargesheet adds. According to the CBI, this video was copied from some other source in a CD that was handed over to the Thanjavur Superintendent of Police by Lavanya’s father Muruganandam.

Sister Sagaya Mary was arrested on January 18 and remanded to judicial custody.

Lavanya’s final statement was recorded on January 19 by Thirukattupalli inspector Sridevi at 1.30 pm, which was videographed too. Lavanya’s health was sinking and she was very critical. However, she spoke about the torture meted out to her by Sister Sagaya Mary and did not say anything related to conversion.

The CBI investigation categorically sums up that in several statements recorded by the police, child welfare officers and the judicial magistrate, Lavanya did not mention anything about religious conversion. “Investigation revealed that in none of the videos at any point of time, Lavanya had said anything about religious conversion, but in all the videos, she has spoken consistently about the torture of Sister Sagaya Mary, which is affecting her studies,” the CBI concluded. 

Lavanya died on January 19 at 3.30 pm. This is when the VHP and the BJP tightened their hold.

Family under VHP influence

Though the hospital communicated Lavanya’s death to her relatives who were available in the hospital at that time, they left the place without completing the formalities. “Doctor and staff nurses waited for two hours. The body was sent to the mortuary as no one was willing to receive the dead body,” reveals the CBI chargesheet.

The CBI investigation found that Lavanya’s parents “were under the influence of VHP leader Muthuvel and also some BJP leaders of Thanjavur”. According to the chargesheet, “they instructed Muruganandam and Saranya not to receive the body and participated in the demonstration at Thanjavur bus stand. Muruganandam and Saranya were hiding in various places to avoid post mortem and also not to receive the dead body of Lavanya.”

On January 20, at 3.47 pm, Annamalai, shared the 47-second video of Lavanya on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, alleging that the girl died after the school authorities tried to forcibly convert her.

ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, was the first organisation to send a delegation led by the then national secretary, Muthuramalingam, to meet Lavanya’s family on January 20. Three days later, the ABVP gave a national call to hold a nationwide agitation to transfer the case to the CBI.

But it wasn’t just the BJP, ABVP, VHP, and RSS that took up the conversion angle. Even the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights that sent a task force to Tamil Nadu then claimed that the state police was deliberately ignoring the conversion angle. 

Television channels too played a role in amplifying the vicious Hindutva propaganda, particularly national channels that held debates titled ‘Forced conversion curse’, Justice for Lavanya, ‘Lavanya video a clincher’, parroting the narrative set by the BJP and right-wing groups.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered a CBI probe into Lavanya’s death and blamed the Tamil Nadu police for wanting to suppress the conversion angle altogether.  

Probe quashes other claims

After Lavanya’s death, right-wing protesters also claimed that another student from the same school had attempted suicide in the past due to pressure to convert to Christianity. There were also rumours that several students in the school had been converted.

The CBI chargesheet says that in the year 2021-22, the school had a total of 677 students, of which 65 percent were Hindu and 32 percent were Christian.

The CBI investigated the other student’s attempted suicide and rejected any link to religious conversion. “The case was thoroughly probed and all connected witnesses were examined and records were pursued. However, investigation clearly proves that no such conversion attempt was made in the above instance as well in any other such incidents including the suicide of Miss Lavanya,” the CBI concluded.

The CBI went on to say that since 2010, not a single student who studied at the school had changed their religion while studying there.

“Transfer Certificates issued by Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School while leaving the school have been collected for the period since 2010. On thorough scrutiny of the Transfer certificates, it is revealed that none of the students studied in the said school have converted their religion while leaving the school,” reads the chargesheet.

Activists demand action from TN government 

Speaking to TNM, Aravind, state secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), said that the RSS, BJP, and affiliated organisations have been trying to create communal tensions in Tamil Nadu for a long time. “These organisations have been targeting minority institutions, even if there is a small issue, they try to turn it into a communal one. They did the same thing in the Thanjavur case too, shooting a video of a student who was traumatised and then politicising it.”

Questioning the silence of the TN government and police, Aravind asked, “Along with Muthuvel, six other people were involved in this issue but no action has been taken against these men who carried out a false campaign alleging forced conversions in Tamil Nadu. The CBI investigation has revealed that there is no forced conversion, so why are the state government and police not reacting? We demand action against those who communalised the death of a student.”

Top officials in the Tamil Nadu police department told TNM that they are going through the contents of the chargesheet and appropriate action will be taken after getting legal opinion. “An FIR was registered in 2022 immediately after videos of the minor girl were circulated on social media without masking her identity,” an official said.

A former CBI officer told TNM that usually CBI officials stick to the directions issued by the court. “During the course of the investigation when they stumble upon new evidence or when new facts emerge, they include it in the chargesheet as incidental recommendations.”

When asked why the role of Muthuvel in fanning communal passions was not actively pursued by the CBI, the officer said it is unclear and said the call may have been taken by the Investigation Officer (IO). 

If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families.

Tamil Nadu

State health department's suicide helpline: 104

Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu)

Andhra Pradesh

Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930

Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584

Karnataka

Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222

Kerala

Maithri: 0484 2540530

Chaithram: 0484 2361161

Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.

Telangana

State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104

Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200

SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 am and 7 pm

Aasara offers support to individuals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.

24x7 Helpline: 9820466726

Click here for working helplines across India.

This report was republished from The News Minute as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. Read about our partnership here and become a subscriber here.