Dozens of teachers and pupils ‘pinned down by evil spirits’ as mystery ‘body possession’ epidemic sweeps through school
A MASS hysteria epidemic has spread through schools in Malaysia as students and teachers claim visions of female vampire ghosts and possession by evil spirits.
The "body possession phenomenon" has led to a school shutting down and one group of 20 female students being sent home.
Yesterday reporters were denied entry to one school but could hear blood-curdling screams from inside the classrooms.
Education chiefs in the Kota Baru region are now using shamans and religious leaders to try and clear the schools of the "bad spirits."
Those affected by the hysteria are overwhelmed by evil spirits and witness a "ponitianak" a female vampire ghost popular in Malaysian folklore.
They are believed to be the spirits of women who died while giving birth and return to prey on men.
At SMK Pengkalan Chepa 2 secondary school, 100 teachers reported seeing a black figure.
One of them, Norlailawati Ramli, told Free Malaysia Today: "When I was holding one of the pupils, my arms felt extraordinarily heavy. I recited the istighfar.
"Things were truly out of control at the time. But after the pupil recovered and went home, I then felt as though someone was hanging on to the left side of my body. I saw flashes of black, like a black figure."
Another teacher also saw the black figure and felt like her head was "bloating" from the
sheer terror.
Professor Datuk Dr Wazir Jahan Karim told the Star Online that the female students were highly stressed and the mass hysteria was a "syndrome of some acute fear."
Wiru Sankala, a traditional medicine expert, told the Straits Times that hot weather and earlier reports of hysteria were perpetuating the problem.