Goa: 11 Schoolgirls Hospitalised After Classmates Use Pepper Spray As 'Mischief'

The 11 students were admitted to a District Hospital in Goa and four students were suspended for their misconduct.

Atleast 11 school girls in Goa were admitted to a hospital after a group of students used pepper-spray on them/Representational Image

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At least 11 school girls at a higher secondary school in North Goa’s Bicholim were admitted to a hospital on Thursday after fellow students used pepper-spray on them as a part of mischief, said a senior police official. The incident took place when the girl students were inside the classroom, he said, as per a PTI report. The girls felt uneasy and breathless as another group of students used pepper spray on them as mischief, he added, as per the report. 

"As per the complaint received from the management of the school, some girl students started feeling uneasy and breathless when another group of students used pepper spray on them as mischief," the official said.

"Eleven girl students were initially referred to the Community Health Centre at Bicholim, and three of them were later admitted to the District Hospital in Mapusa town," he said, according to the report. 

Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye rushed to the District Hospital and said that the condition of all the students admitted there was stable, adding, the majority of the students — except two — will be given discharge soon. 

The legislator also said that the police have asked the school management to set up a disciplinary committee and investigate the incident. "Initial inquiry has revealed that some students sprayed the pepper from outside the classroom through the window," he said.

The police have also been informed by the school management that four students have been suspended for their misconduct, Shetye added. 

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Patkar along with party MLA Carlos Ferreira also visited the students at the district hospital. "It is unfortunate that students are resorting to this kind of mischievous behaviour," he told reporters.

According to him, some parents informed him that a similar incident had happened last Friday in the school, although it was on a smaller scale.