‘Mass hysteria’ in Malaysian school: Screams heard from the classrooms

IT IS the apparent mysterious figure in black which has reduced students and teachers to a state of mass hysteria and forced a school to suspend all its classes.

But despite the school reopening, blood-curling screams can still reportedly be heard.
In a saga which is gripping Malaysia’s media, dozens of students and teachers at the SMK Pengkalan Chepa 2 secondary school have been engulfed by a wave of mass hysteria.
The hysteria and hype surrounding the school is so strong that media have so far not been allowed to enter the school to verify their claims.
The school, which has more than 1000 students and 80 teachers, has since reopened under the observation of several religious teachers and Islamic medical practitioners, Free Malaysia today reported.
But screams were heard from inside the school, in the Malaysian state of Kelantan, as recently as Sunday.
Principal Siti Hawa Mat said 100 teachers had reported seeing a black figure, adding it was the first time an incident like this has been reported in the school since it opened in 2001.
Islamic traditional practitioners were called in an attempt to rid the place of bad spirits and school bosses have held prayer ceremonies after the school closed on Thursday.
However according to the Star Online, nothing “seems to be working.”
One teacher at the school, Norlailawati Ramli, was quoted by Free Malaysia Today as saying she definitely had an experience.
“When I was holding one of the pupils, my arms felt extraordinarily heavy. I recited the istighfar,” she said.
“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 maintained what she experienced was also very real.
Kamariah Ibrahim revealed she prayed when she was “losing control of herself”.

Students claim they have seen a mysterious figure in black.Source:istock

“I saw a black figure, like it was trying to enter my body, but my colleagues were surrounding me, reciting verses from the Koran. I felt like my head was bloating, I felt numb and tears kept pouring down my face,” she was quoted as saying.
“I silently recited the Ayatul Kursi, over and over again, then my head began to feel lighter after about an hour.”
While it may sound like something out of the paranormal is taking place, one expert has a more plausible explanation for the hysteria sweeping the school.
Founder and executive director of the Academy of Socio-Economic Research and Analysis, Professor Datuk Dr Wazir Jahan Karim told The Star Online that she believed the students — who are all female — were finding their studies and curriculum difficult.
She also said the girls were being kept on a “tighter leash” than their male counterparts and believed the mass hysteria was a “syndrome of some acute fear” which had quickly spread across the school.
“When one starts screaming, the others in a similar state of fear start to scream along with her. And before you know it, the whole class is screaming,” she said.
She added it wasn’t uncommon for such screaming to be followed by fainting and rolling around on the floor.
However, Prof Wazir maintained they were genuine symptoms that were not just put on for show.
According to her the situation could be better brought under control by counselling the affected students individually and outside of the school premises.
The strange case wouldn’t be the first time a school has been gripped by such hysteria.
In September 2013, 20 high school students in the Philippines claimed they were “possessed” by evil spirits.
School authorities in Cebu were forced to suspend classes and prayer sessions were held in an attempt to rid the school of evil spirits, according to The Philippine Star.