The Central Bureau of Investigation has submitted before the Supreme Court the chargesheet filed by it in the case relating to the suicide of a school girl at a Christian missionary-run school in Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu in 2022. The death of the girl had hit the headlines nationwide following allegations that she resorted to suicide following pressure from the school to convert to Christianity. However, the CBI’s chargesheet found no evidence to establish the allegations of forceful conversion bid.

“Allegation pertaining to the attempt of conversion by the Convent Sisters and Teachers of Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Michaelpatti, could not be established,” the chargesheet filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thiruchirappali, in December 2023, stated. At the same time, the CBI found that Sister Sagaya Mary, the Hostel Warden, had continuously subjected the girl, then studying in Class XII, to harassment and exploitation, which caused her mental stress, ultimately driving her to suicide. As per the CBI, Sister Sagaya Mary used to make the girl do the accounts work related to the hostel, without letting her concentrate on her studies, and faced with continuous exploitation and harassment, the girl took the extreme step.

The CBI therefore found that Sister Sagaya Mary was culpable for offences under Section 305 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act. It may be recalled that in 2022, the Madras High Court had transferred the investigation to the CBI, after the girl’s death created a huge political controversy, following the allegations of a conversion bid, which the State Police had then rejected. The High Court observed that the conversion attempt was not improbable, and faulted the State for ruling out this angle.

The Tamil Nadu government approached the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order. The Supreme Court, though admitted the State’s appeal, refused to stay the CBI investigation. In November 2025, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to bring on record the chargesheet. In compliance with the direction, the CBI produced the chargesheet along with the affidavit filed on January 20, 2026. A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma will consider the matter tomorrow.

Source: Live Law