Rituals to rid Arunachal school of evil spirits

Itanagar, Aug 31 (UNI) Claims by schoolgirls of evil spirits haunting their classrooms at government higher secondary school in Dirang, have led authorites to seek help from Buddhist monks to perform purification rituals.

The monks have been performing non-stop rituals for the past four days in the school auditorium. Dirang is located in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

According to the students, the spirits had attacked several of them, particularly Monpa tribal girls, of class eight to ten.

The victims were said to exhibit symptoms of strangulation and fainting. On regaining their senses, they claimed that somebody was trying to strangulate them.

School Principal T Riba said such incidents had affected the normal functioning of the school and about 17 students had been "attacked".

He said the people here were strong believers in supernatural forces. "Perhaps the recent death of a girl student triggered the whole episode," he added.

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