Pastor called as pupils fall in trance

A PASTOR had to be called to pray for a group of Form Four pupils at Pumula High School in Bulawayo after they allegedly fell into a trance trying to save one of their classmates who had fits.

It is said the affected pupils, the majority of whom were girls, began acting as if they were possessed, some rolling their tongues.

Bulawayo Acting Provincial Education director Mrs Ollicah Fikelephi Kaira confirmed the incident which happened last Friday.

"I can confirm that an epileptic girl fell down as she tried to pick up her lip balm and thereafter other girls collapsed as well but the situation is now calm at the school. It has not happened again.

"Investigations show that the girl had a long standing record of epilepsy but probably other pupils who collapsed were disturbed because they had never witnessed an epileptic attack before," said Mrs Kaira.

She said about 10 girls were transported back home by the school as some of the guardians and parents were not reachable on their phones.

"These children had been called for an off-session lesson by their teacher and it all happened in the shade as they were waiting for their teacher.

"Pumula is one of our shining beacons, it has excelled over the years and won the Secretary's Bell award last year. This was just an unfortunate incident but we cannot conclude that they were demons as other people allege," said Mrs Kaira.

A source said a school pastor was invited to pray for pupils.

"It was scary," said a pupil who cannot be named