Family blames Scientology for daughter’s death

The Norwegian press is reporting that Kaja Bordevich Ballo, aged 20, the daughter of Norwegian MP Olav Gunnar Ballo, committed suicide two weeks ago after taking a Scientology personality test.

The family blames the Church for her death and decided to go public with the story, after the test along with the results and a suicide note were discovered after Kaja’s death.

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On March 28, 2008, Kaja took the Scientology personality test. Kaja was a student at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis located in Nice, France. A few hours later she reportedly killed herself by jumping from the window of her dormitory. Her friends and roommates claim she was in good spirits and showed no signs of a mental break down or depression prior to taking the test. The test was stamped and dated by the Church just hours prior to her suicide.

“The information about the Scientology test has been made public through the priest’s speech at the memorial service. I can confirm that. Due to the recency of her death, I don’t wish to elaborate on or comment on other matters now,” said Olav in a statement to the press.

The Church, which is located only meters from Kaja’s dormitory, states that the results had shown Kaja was “depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony.” They also state that it is “unfair to blame Scientology” for Kaja’s death and that the test had nothing to do with it. Kaja left behind a note telling her family she was sorry for not “being good for anything.”

The incident has generated criticism against the Church from friends, family members and politicians. Inga Marte Thorkildsen one of the members of Norway’s Parliament, states that “everything points to Scientology having played a direct role in making Kaja choose to take her own life.”

The Church has since removed the test from its Norwegian website.

• Original item at Wikinews.
• Republished under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5