Nainital: The education department in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district has sought a report from block-level officers in Kairagaon after a government school management brought exorcists to “cure” 14 school girls.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the village and school managements conducted a ‘Jagar’, a kind of ancestor worship ceremony’ for the girls who they said were “possessed”.
“A class 7 student was possessed last Thursday and started doing bizarre activities like breaking chairs and shouting loudly,” the report quoted school principal Chhatrapal Singh as saying.
“When other girls tried to calm her down and offered water, the influence spread to them as well. Over the next 3-4 days, five girls were possessed. They started shouting loudly, dancing, jumping here and there,” he added.
Interestingly enough, none of the boys in the co-ed school were “influenced” by what the village head Madan Singh Nauliya called a “problem”
The village head even blamed the “dormant spirit” in the school, which has now been operational for decades, and said that the buildings had been constructed above a graveyard.
‘Jagariyas’ or priests specialising in ancestor spirit worship, were called on Tuesday and a ritual was performed on the 14 students.
“The girls calmed down after Jagar was conducted. They also informed that there is a problem with a room which functioned as the classroom for standard 8. So as of now, a picture of Goddess Saraswati and a lit earthen lamp were placed in the classroom and it has been locked,” Nauliya was quoted by the HT report as saying.
A rationalist and scientist at Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists - Brij Mohan Sharma, condemned these activities and called them illogical. “The principal in-charge is also condoning such activities. An educated individual should have the sense to distinguish between superstition and facts,” he was quoted as saying.
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