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Sagaya Mary, the hostel warden named as one of the main accused in the Lavanya suicide case, was released from jail two days ago on bail.

Sagaya was named by Lavanya in her confession to the magistrate as the person who tortured her and extorted physical and mental labour from her, leading to her suicide.

A girl had committed suicide in Thanjavur in January reportedly because she was forced to undergo religious conversion. The minor girl had consumed poison on January 9 and the police had received the first information from her parents on January 15.

As per the FIR, the warden of the hostel, where Lavanya (the deceased girl) was staying, had forced her to do domestic chores on January 9. She allegedly attempted to end her life as she could not bear the cruelty.

The girl's condition had worsened on January 15 and she was shifted to the Thanjavur College Hospital. There, she gave her declaration implicating the warden and died on January 19, the police had said.

On January 31, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court had ordered the transfer of the Thanjavur student death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A Single Judge Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan passed this order in a petition moved by the father of the 17-year-old.

Filing a Special Leave Petition, Tamil Nadu government, through the DGP, challenged validity of the order passed by a Single Judge transferring the probe to the CBI.

The DGP has also challenged the remarks that Madras High Court has made against the State Police's thorough inaction and lack of concerted effort in chasing the probable angle of conversion that led to the girl's suicide and instead bolstering the counter narrative of the involvement of the step mother.

Following this, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere in the Madras High Court order transferring investigation to CBI while telling the state of Tamil Nadu, insistent upon the quashing of transfer not to make this a “prestige issue” and that a lot had happened in the case.

Earlier, the Madras High Court had been informed by Christian Missionary School that they were not involved in any manner in the death of the Thanjavur girl suicide case and that the girl was in depression due to harassment by her own stepmother.