Kolkata, Sep 19 (IANS): A five-member delegation of the Calcutta Diocese of the Church of North India (CNI) Thursday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while around 1,000 Christian schools in the state were shut in the aftermath of a school girl's death after alleged ragging.

The delegation sought the protection of minority-run institutions in the state.

The Christian schools were shut Thursday to protest police inaction when vandalism occurred at the Christ Church School in Dum Dum, North 24-Parganas district, last Thursday.

It was at this school that Oindrila Das, a Class 5 student, died Sep 11 allegedly after being ragged by seniors who locked her up in a school bathroom and demanded money from her.

A day after the girl's death, hundreds of angry parents and guardians ransacked the 131-year-old school and forced principal Helen Sircar to resign.

She was arrested and later released on bail. Sircar virtually accused police and the mob of colluding during the vandalism.

"We came to meet the chief minister today... and based on what her office told us, we have complete faith in her that she will definitely do the needful... we believe that," Abir Adhikari of the diocese said.

"We have demanded protection of minority institutions," he said, adding that an inquiry committee and a monitoring committee instituted by the CNI were investigating the incident.

On the CNI's directive, 700 institutions under the West Bengal Association of Christian Schools and the Association of Anglo-Indian Schools, and about 300 schools affiliated to the Indian Council for Secondary Education (ICSE) remained closed Thursday.

Several teachers of schools under the ICSE Board did not hold routine classes and observed a prayer service in Oindrila's memory and seminars on the teacher-student relationship.

Over a dozen people have been arrested so far for the vandalism that resulted in the loss of valuable documents, including those submitted by Class 10 and Class 12 students for their upcoming board exams.