Pandemonium at East R/veldt Secondary

Nov 06, 2009 News

---

…as 15 female students act ‘abnormally’

(By Mondale Smith and Rabindra Rooplall)

A form 3C female student, who is usually gregarious, entered class unusually quiet yesterday morning. Minutes later, the situation turned into mass hysteria as more than 600 students dashed into the streets with screams of “demon attacking and possessing people, run.”
To some it was a mass drama, while others saw it as a case of supernatural forces possessing only female students at the East Ruimveldt Secondary school.
In mere seconds, the institution was left with few students assisting teachers with their out-of-control peers in the classroom.
But most of that lot soon abandoned their efforts when whatever possessed the girls began affecting some of the ‘helpers’ too.
Whatever was taking place caused most of the girls to shed their clothing and break into uncontrollable shrieks and screams and violent outbursts.
The mass hysteria erupted during the normal school sessions about 09:45 hrs creating a scare for the rest of the students. They dashed in every direction to exit the building to escape what they dubbed as “demon possession.”
Headmistress of the school, Maureen Samuels, immediately called the Education Ministry and secured permission to end classes for the day.
For more than three hours, the immediate environs was in an uproar as the students stood in scores outside the school compound. The atmosphere was one of mixed curiosity and fear. Disbelief was written on some faces.
“To me is not no spirits. Dem girls trip out after the first one start behaving mad and stab the other one,” said one male student.
But, as a matter of fact, there was no report of injury.
Another questioned the unfolding event, “I want to know how all ah dem start in a panic and is not spirits?”
All told, 15 teenaged girls were affected. Most screamed and struggled against restraints while others spoke sometimes in inaudible tones. Others remained silent. Some were subdued by pastors’ praying while other ‘would-be religious fanatics’ tried to take hold of the students and shouted “The blood of Jesus….Get out you foul spirit.”
As teachers fought to control the girls – who appeared at times to have superhuman strength – some parents arrived and immediately got involved in efforts to cast-out “spirits”, while others simply wept and ran out of the building asking “what we must do?”.
One mother shouted, “God help me daughter. They got a bag over she face but it ain’t helping.”
Of all those allegedly possessed, one of the girls laughed uncontrollably but could not stand on her own. Then minutes later she was smiling all the time as though on a high.
As news of the alleged evil spirits attack spread, curious persons and concerned citizens as well as old students, flocked to the school and ventured into the compound to have a first hand view.
They could be heard saying, “Is what is this here? I come to this school for years and in me time nothing like this ever happened before.”
Some expressed disbelief in demon possessions but were heard reciting prayers for protection as they ventured to the school’s second floor where the weeping, wailings and trampling were the loudest. With help, some of the girls were hoisted out the school building and became calm briefly.
But when one particular girl was brought out, as she stared into the eyes of some of the affected girls the hysterical screaming began again. Several parents and teachers had quite a task catching some of the girls who sprinted across the playfield.
So hysterical was one girl that even the parents, teachers and pastors combined could not subdue her. This was later achieved.
A teacher, who did not want her name mentioned, said it all started yesterday morning with a female student in form 3C who began scratching other female students. She began misbehaving “as if she was demon possessed and suddenly it started spreading among the children.”
That class has about 30 students. “Suddenly they all started behaving strangely and we could not control them so we called their parents and eventually some pastors,” the teacher said.
As far as it is reported such an incident happened once before at the institution. Both the Deputy and the head mistress recently took over the management of the school.
When efforts failed to rid some of the girls of the excess energies, they were bundled into cars and minibuses and transported to the Ruimveldt Life Improvement Centre, Assembly of God, where several pastors were seen praying for them.
One pastor explained that after he was summoned he recognised certain manifestations that made him conclude that a supernatural force was at work.
He said, “We prayed and are still praying for some of them who have calmed down. But for others the process of prayers is ongoing and will take a few sessions for them to be totally delivered.”
Other students expressed fears about returning to the building until it is “prayed out”. Teachers told this publication that they summoned officials of the Education Ministry minutes after the hysteria began but hours later none had arrived.

---

---