The girls at the school, Child Commission member Megha Pawar and this correspondent
Girls of age group thirteen to seventeen started hallucinating and screaming all of a sudden in a tribal village in Madhya Pradesh. The villagers assumed it was the work of supernatural power and hence relied on God-Man for the treatment. It took months for them to finally admit that their daughters observed symptoms of what is commonly called ‘Mass Hysteria’ and not what they believed, the ‘Bhoot Badha’.
Khamraudh is a small village residing more than 200 families which include tribals from Gond janjati and others. They speak a mixed dialect from Baghelkhand and that of Chhattisgarh. The village falls under the Burhar block of the Shahdol district.
In December 2022, girls studying at the middle school run by the government started observing a peculiar fit. The symptoms of which included hallucinations followed by loud screams and ultimately them laying unconscious. As many as seven girls from the school were affected.
Notably, similar instances were reported from the other villages around the district which include Beltukri where the maximum number of girls were affected.
The villagers believed that the minors were having these episodes under the influence of some negative powers, which they referred to as ‘Bhoot Badha’. They were following a God-Man’s instruction to treat their daughters.
This report comprises details of the ground visit made by this correspondent to one of the villages, Khamraudh on April 19, 2023. It is pertinent to, mention that all the girls affected by the said fit are now doing well. This report is a documentation of their journey towards well-being leaving all the misconceptions and myths behind.
This correspondent visited the village on April 19, which is around 39 kilometres from the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh. I was accompanied by a member of the Madhya Pradesh Child Commission, Megha Pawar and the district education officer in this visit. The village had this narrow bushy passage, with space that barely allowed the vehicle to pass.
By the time we reached there, all the students left the school except the girls who observed these fits. They were all around 15 to 17 years old. One of them was feeling uneasy that day as it was hot (around 42 degrees Celsius).
Others who have experienced fits that include loud screaming and hallucinating were worried and frightened. The Child Commission member took care of the girl and smoothly counselled her. By the time we were leaving the school, she believed it was no ghost but her missed breakfast that was haunting her.
The victim’s shared their plight
Some of the girls spoke on camera and shared what it felt like back in the day.
One of them was Seema (17, the name changed to protect the identity of the minor) said that she observed the fits in December and before that as well. She observed it when she would try to study. About the symptoms she said, her stomach would start to ache, she will feel dizzy and everything around her started to move. She would start screaming for no reason, and by the time she regained consciousness, it felt everything has drained out of her body.
Another victim, Renu (15, name changed to protect the identity of the minor) told how a baba (God-Man) was called for treatment by their family members. She recalled the treatment procedure for the correspondent which included a secluded place where the man would burn the incense sticks, and then he would break a coconut and chant some verses towards the end.
Asked if this worked, she said they would feel better for something but the fits keep coming. This girl was wearing a black thread around her neck with a Taviz in it, she also had the same threads tied around her foot fingers. When asked about the same she said, her parents gave her.
How constant counselling changed everything
Megha Pawar while speaking with Organiser told, this is no ‘Bhoot Badha’ and that the villagers were falsely associating a nutritional deficiency with ghosts. Megha was the one who took cognizance of the matter and visited the school at first. She visited all three schools around the districts where such incidents were reported.
She recalled her first visit to the school and the same day a girl fainted, her family members called the God-Man and he chanted something over the phone. The family believed he can cure their daughter, she said.
Megha said, she and the school administration first convinced the family of the victim girls to see the doctor. The doctors claimed that all of this was happening due to weakness and gave some tonics.
Weeks later, it turned out that the families were still seeing the Baba. Megha took it to herself and started visiting the school every now and then. She would do hours and hours of counselling where she would talk to the girls, try and understand their state of mind, their family backgrounds and their diets.
Megha said the first thing she asked the girls and her family members was to follow a strict died, that included vegetables and grains. Then she found, the minors were afraid of the boys studying in the school, as they would pass comments on them, she took a separate session for the boys and made sure nothing of this sort was repeated in future.
The next thing was these minors were somehow facing discrimination at their houses for being girls. There were other problems like one of the girls had a stepmother and her father was working out in Maharashtra. Another girl did not have a very peaceful environment at home. These girls were forced to do housework as well and mostly remained hungry.
After addressing all these problems she called their parents and made sure, the girls are getting proper care. From December 2022 to March 2023, she was constantly in touch with the minors. She was their video friend for everything. The principal of the school also coordinated as it was his phone the girls were using for the video chat.
Megha said, a day in a week was decided for the call where they would have a conversation and since then none of the girls have observed the fits ever again.
What is Mass Hysteria?
Megha said, although her counselling and the idea of following a proper diet worked, when she consulted the doctor she was informed that the girls may have been dealing with the symptoms of Mass Hysteria.
Mass Hysteria is an outbreak of fatal dancing fits among members of the same community, men or women suddenly gripped by the sickening fear have mysterious symptoms after watching an episode of their favourite TV series — these are all instances of what we often refer to as “mass hysteria.”
In the case of these girls, it was their personal trauma and the mental strain that lead to the common feeling of fear. What is commonly observed by a group of dancers was observed by a group of students, all girls. The symptoms were that they collapsed and fell to the ground exhausted, groaning and sighing as if in the agonies of death. When recuperated, they resumed their convulsive movements.”
Specialists who have taken an interest in this phenomenon say that it is a type of “psychogenic illness” — that is, a condition that begins in the mind, rather than in the body. Physiological symptoms, however, are often not illusory but very much real.
Because mass hysteria, or collective obsessional behavior, can take so many different forms, it is very difficult to provide a clear definition for it, or to characterize it with confidence.
The misconceptions or ‘Bhoot Badha’
This correspondent visited the family of one of the victims. Her grandfather Raman (name changed), from Gond Janjati, said, when the fit first happened to his granddaughter the principal called them at the school. They were all in fear as they had no idea what happened to the teens.
Raman almost in his seventies said, “I was scared the most as, my son lives out. The mother of my granddaughter died years ago and she is solely dependent on us”.
The elders at the village said it was ‘Bhoot Badha’ and the baba living at an abandoned shanty can cure them. All the parents reached them so was Raman. They followed everything he said.
Interacting with the correspondent Raman said, this is village madam and we believe in ‘Jhaad Fook’ at first, even if it is normal cough and cold.
About his religious belief he said, they worship Budha Deo and Bada Deo, as all the vanvasi do. They pray the mother nature for their existence. Raman is a farmer by profession.
He says, after Megha Mam’s counselling his granddaughter has not faced the fits anymore. He was curious to know if she was cured perfectly or not. He assured he will not call the Baba anymore and would stick to what the doctors said.
Megha said, teenage is a growing age for minors and it is when hormonal changes also take place, they should take proper care of themselves. Proper diet is also a key factor, considering the minors don’t really belong to well-to-do families, she asked them to take what was easily accessible in the village such as coarse grains and vegetables.
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