HYDERABAD, India – Indian police say they are investigating the parents of a teenage girl who died after fasting for 68 days in a religious ritual.
Police Inspector M. Mattaiah said Monday that the case was opened after a complaint was filed by a children's rights association.
The 13-year-old girl died Oct. 3, two days after ending the fast. The fast was part of a ritual practiced by Jains, an ancient Indian religion that preaches nonviolence.
Her father, Lakshmi Chand Samdariya, said she was on a liquid diet when "her condition deteriorated," and "we shifted her to a local hospital, where she was declared dead."
Samdhariya denied allegations that his daughter was forced to fast. He said she wanted to become a Jain nun and had fasted twice in the past.
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