Students scream, bang heads due to mass hysteria; video goes viral

A video of students crying, shouting and banging their heads due to “mass hysteria” in a school is going viral. 

The viral video on Instagram showed students, mostly girls, of a government school in Raikhili village in Uttarakhand state in India screaming, banging their heads and rolling on the ground hysterically.

The school’s head teacher Vimla Devi, speaking about the incident with the media, said the bizarre behaviour was first reported on Tuesday. The situation came under control after a priest was called.

“They were crying, shouting, shivering, and even trying to bang heads for no reason,” she was quoted saying. “We called parents, they summoned a local priest and this is how the situation came under control.”

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The pupils behaved the same way again when a team of doctors and administrators paid a visit to the educational centre.

“Parents insisted that we perform pooja inside the school campus. They believe school is doomed. We would do anything, be it consulting doctors or taking help of faith healers so that everything becomes normal,” the teacher said.

The situation has left both parents and the authorities concerned. The reason for the “abnormal” behaviour of the students has not been determined.