To confront rumours of a “ghost” haunting a tribal residential school in Amravati’s Doma village, the district’s top officials spent Tuesday night at the campus, having dinner and interacting with students in an effort to restore confidence after hundreds of children fled the hostel in fear.
Amravati Collector Ashish Yerekar, Zilla Parishad CEO Satyam Gandhi, Superintendent of Police Niketan Kadam and other senior officials stayed at the campus in Chikhaldara taluka and urged students to reject superstition and adopt a scientific outlook.
The episode began with rumours that some girl students had been “possessed”, prompting around 610 of the hostel’s approximately 850 students to leave for their homes. A subsequent health assessment found no evidence of supernatural activity and linked the symptoms reported by affected girls to dissociative or conversion symptoms associated with mental stress and fear.
Weeks later, around 350 of those who left had still not returned, although school authorities said the festive season and holidays could also have contributed to the absence.
“There were rumours of presence of a ‘ghost’ at the school, which created fear among students. We wanted to personally be there, stay the night and instil confidence among the students,” Kadam told The Indian Express.
Yerekar urged students to draw inspiration from tribal leaders such as Birsa Munda and Tantya Bhil and “keep superstition away” from their lives. He also encouraged them to aspire to become IAS and IPS officers.
The officials’ informal interaction included dinner and discussions about their careers and civil services journeys. Students also spoke about their fears and asked the officials for guidance.
The team inspected and inaugurated a newly constructed girls’ hostel on the campus, intended to improve accommodation and address overcrowding.
Kalyani Gopichand Jawarkar, a student, said the officials’ visit helped dispel fear among students.
The earlier assessment had recorded symptoms including crying spells, fearfulness, low mood, physical complaints, loss of appetite, forgetfulness and memory loss among affected girls, with the episode described as resembling “selective hysteria”.
