News / Local
Satanism scare at school as pupils mysteriously collapse
07 Mar 2013 at 03:29hrs | Views
ENTUMBANE High School in Bulawayo yesterday called an emergency meeting with residents from Entumbane suburb after a number of pupils mysteriously collapsed during lessons from hysteria in a suspected case of Satanism.
Reports from the school are that there was pandemonium on Tuesday as pupils, mostly from Form Two and Form Three classes, fainted during lessons.
A 15-year-old Form Three girl (name supplied) is believed to have been at the centre of the suspected acts of Satanism. She also fainted.
It is alleged that those who tried to resuscitate the girl also collapsed after getting into contact with her, thereby raising suspicions among school authorities who believed that the events were related to Satanism and called an emergency meeting to find a way forward.
The girl has since been removed from the school pending finalisation of the issue.
Sources from within the school said the girl once collapsed under mysterious circumstances.
"It started on Friday last week when pupils were just fainting at school but no one took the issue seriously," said a source.
"On Tuesday, the girl had a book where she was writing what we suspect are satanic stories and a classmate asked for an exercise book from her. She accidentally gave her together with the mystery book and at that time people started feeling dizzy.
"The girl also fainted and her cousin who is in another class was called to come and carry her but she fainted as well. Everyone who carried those who had collapsed also fainted. A female teacher also collapsed as she tried to assist."
The situation reportedly worsened when some pastors were invited to pray for the pupils as several others collapsed.
The school head, only identified as Mr Magutshwa, could not comment on the issue.
The meeting, which Chronicle attended, was led by the councillor for the area, Prince Dube and the School Development Committee.
Contributing during the meeting, parents said their children's lives were in danger and called for an urgent solution to the situation.
"This is not a new thing, we have heard about such stories in Cowdray Park and Njube where many pupils failed to write examinations because they were affected by Satanism. Let us not give our children juju for them to pass their examinations because this is what leads to such things," said a parent.
Parents suggested that there should be no finger pointing for the problem to be solved.
"We cannot afford to have blame games at this point because we will lose our children. Let us face these demons," said another parent.
Some parents suggested that that there should be prayer sessions by all residents every morning at the school and they should invite "powerful" pastors while others suggested that the school ban all churches that worship at the school premises because "they might be responsible" for the hysteria.
A total of 13 churches reportedly use the school premises for worship.
Clr Dube encouraged residents to be calm until a way forward was found.
"This is a learning institution and we should handle this matter professionally and avoid resolutions that will scare away pupils. Let us be calm," said Clr Dube.
He said they would consult traditionalists and prophets for possible interpretation of Tuesday's events.
"The meeting was meant to brief parents about what happened. This is a diverse community where there are registered traditionalists and prophets and we would want them to give their interpretations as well. The resolution was that we will combine reports from the police, health experts who attended to the children and traditionalists and prophets to see whether a cleansing ceremony is necessary," said Clr Dube.
"Obviously, residents are now scared because such acts are increasing and they believe it is Satanism."
Police spokesperson for Bulawayo Province Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed that police received a report about the issue.
"I can confirm that we received a report from the school but it is more of a social matter than a criminal case," he said.
Reports from the school are that there was pandemonium on Tuesday as pupils, mostly from Form Two and Form Three classes, fainted during lessons.
A 15-year-old Form Three girl (name supplied) is believed to have been at the centre of the suspected acts of Satanism. She also fainted.
It is alleged that those who tried to resuscitate the girl also collapsed after getting into contact with her, thereby raising suspicions among school authorities who believed that the events were related to Satanism and called an emergency meeting to find a way forward.
The girl has since been removed from the school pending finalisation of the issue.
Sources from within the school said the girl once collapsed under mysterious circumstances.
"It started on Friday last week when pupils were just fainting at school but no one took the issue seriously," said a source.
"On Tuesday, the girl had a book where she was writing what we suspect are satanic stories and a classmate asked for an exercise book from her. She accidentally gave her together with the mystery book and at that time people started feeling dizzy.
"The girl also fainted and her cousin who is in another class was called to come and carry her but she fainted as well. Everyone who carried those who had collapsed also fainted. A female teacher also collapsed as she tried to assist."
The situation reportedly worsened when some pastors were invited to pray for the pupils as several others collapsed.
The school head, only identified as Mr Magutshwa, could not comment on the issue.
The meeting, which Chronicle attended, was led by the councillor for the area, Prince Dube and the School Development Committee.
Contributing during the meeting, parents said their children's lives were in danger and called for an urgent solution to the situation.
"This is not a new thing, we have heard about such stories in Cowdray Park and Njube where many pupils failed to write examinations because they were affected by Satanism. Let us not give our children juju for them to pass their examinations because this is what leads to such things," said a parent.
Parents suggested that there should be no finger pointing for the problem to be solved.
"We cannot afford to have blame games at this point because we will lose our children. Let us face these demons," said another parent.
Some parents suggested that that there should be prayer sessions by all residents every morning at the school and they should invite "powerful" pastors while others suggested that the school ban all churches that worship at the school premises because "they might be responsible" for the hysteria.
A total of 13 churches reportedly use the school premises for worship.
Clr Dube encouraged residents to be calm until a way forward was found.
"This is a learning institution and we should handle this matter professionally and avoid resolutions that will scare away pupils. Let us be calm," said Clr Dube.
He said they would consult traditionalists and prophets for possible interpretation of Tuesday's events.
"The meeting was meant to brief parents about what happened. This is a diverse community where there are registered traditionalists and prophets and we would want them to give their interpretations as well. The resolution was that we will combine reports from the police, health experts who attended to the children and traditionalists and prophets to see whether a cleansing ceremony is necessary," said Clr Dube.
"Obviously, residents are now scared because such acts are increasing and they believe it is Satanism."
Police spokesperson for Bulawayo Province Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed that police received a report about the issue.
"I can confirm that we received a report from the school but it is more of a social matter than a criminal case," he said.
Source - TC
