UP: ‘Tantrik’ called to cure girls who fell ill after eating mid-day meal, probe underway

Mahoba: A probe has been ordered into an incident where a `tantrik` was called into `cure` 15 girls, who fell ill after eating a mid-day meal at a basic government school in Uttar Pradesh`s Mahoba district, police said. The incident took place in Mahua village of Panwadi in Mahoba district. Instead of admitting the girls to the hospital, the school authorities summoned a `tantrik` to cure them. A video purportedly showing this incident went viral on social media after which the administration swung into action. Senior district and police officials who reached the school, chased the `tantrik` out of the campus and sent the students to a local community health centre (CHC) for treatment.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Kulpahar, Arun Dikshit, said, "The incident is being probed. The sample of the food prepared in the mid-day meal has been collected and given to the food inspector for investigation. It seems that the children fell ill due to extreme cold weather conditions. Investigations are underway to ascertain the facts and, on whose advice, the tantrik was hired." The age of all the girl students whose condition deteriorated is between 9 and 13 years. The students said that a few children had also taken ill two-three days ago, but had recovered after some time.

The locals, however, insisted that the school was inhabited by ghosts, which is why the children fell ill, police added. "They claimed that a girl child had first seen a woman dressed in white attire which was probably a ghost and which disappeared after a while," a police officer said. The doctors at the CHC said that the girls fainted in panic and all were very scared. "However, their condition is returning to normalcy."