Three years after a case of "mass hysteria" among students was reported at a government school in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, a similar incident recently happened in Bageshwar district. A few girl students suddenly started screaming, shouting and banging their heads at a government school in Raikhuli village in Bageshwar, News18 reported.
Vimla Devi, head teacher of the school, told News18 that the sudden change in behaviour of students was first reported on Tuesday. A similar incident took place again on Thursday.
"They were crying, shouting, shivering, and even trying to bang heads for no reason. We called parents, they summoned a local priest and this is how the situation came under control," Vimla Devi said.
On Thursday, a team from the district administration and doctors visited the government school. It is not clear on what led to the sudden behavioral change in the students.
"Even today, when departmental officials were here, some students behaved in the same manner. Parents insisted that we perform pooja inside the school campus. They believe school is doomed," News18 quoted Vimla Devi as saying.
A district panchayat member, Chandan Rawat, said such cases of "mass hysteria" were also reported in a few other schools in the district earlier.
Mukul Sati, a senior official with the Dehradun education department, told News18 that similar reports were recived from some schools in Chakrata and Uttarkashi.
"We have decided to form a medical team which will visit government schools across the state in an attempt to allay fears among students," Sati told News18.
Three years ago, a similar incident happened at a school in Banjabgarh where girl students started behaving violently in the midst of a class, TOI reported. It was the second such case in that month.
The girl students were then subjected to medical tests and counselling. Counselling of the students revealed that the girls were not able to get over the recent flash floods in the district in which their classmate had drowned. Their medical examination showed that the girls were undernourished, had poor eyesight and were extremely tense, the TOI report said.