Amravati, Maharashtra: Nearly 600 students have left a government-run tribal residential school hostel in Maharashtra’s Amravati district after rumours that some girls were “possessed” triggered widespread fear among students, parents and local residents. However, officials and health experts investigating the incident have found no evidence of supernatural activity and have instead linked the unusual behaviour to psychological stress and a condition identified as Dissociative Conversion Disorder.

The incident has drawn attention because what began with unusual behaviour reported among a handful of students eventually resulted in a mass exodus from the hostel. Authorities are now relying on counselling and medical intervention to reassure families and persuade students to return.

How The Maharashtra Hostel ‘Haunting’ Rumours Began

The episode reportedly began on July 22 at the Doma Government Tribal Ashram School in Doma village, located in Chikhaldara taluka of Amravati district’s Melghat region.

The residential school, which is run by the Tribal Development Department, accommodates around 810 boys and girls. According to officials, four female students initially began displaying unusual behaviour, including crying and laughing uncontrollably. The sudden episodes reportedly left other students frightened and confused.

As the incidents became a topic of discussion inside the hostel, rumours quickly took on a supernatural explanation. Some students reportedly claimed to have heard the sound of anklets or ghungroos at night. Stories that some of the girls had been possessed by spirits began circulating, eventually convincing many students and parents that the hostel was unsafe.

Within days, nearly 600 students had reportedly left the residential campus and returned to their homes.

The scale of the departure highlights how quickly fear can spread in a closed residential environment, particularly when an unexplained incident is followed by rumours and repeated accounts of supposedly paranormal experiences.

Why Did Students Believe The Hostel Was Haunted?

According to a psychological report prepared by authorities, several explanations for the incidents began circulating among students and local residents.

One belief reportedly centred on a mahua tree that had stood on the school premises. Some locals believed that spirits resided in the tree and that cutting it down had angered them. Another explanation linked the incidents to a religious site near the school, with claims that a drainage channel had affected or encroached upon a temple associated with a local deity.

A third theory involved the death of an Adivasi youth in a field near the school. According to the report, some people believed that his spirit had remained in the area and was troubling students.

None of these explanations has been established as fact.

Instead, officials have repeatedly appealed to students and parents not to rely on rumours or supernatural interpretations.

Medical Investigation Points To Stress, Not Spirits

A team from the Amravati District General Hospital examined the affected students after the unusual episodes were reported.

In the investigation, six female students were observed experiencing symptoms including persistent crying, fear, sadness, memory loss and physical pain. Medical experts identified the condition as Dissociative Conversion Disorder, in which psychological stress can manifest through genuine, involuntary physical or neurological symptoms despite the absence of an underlying structural physical problem.

Officials said academic pressure, mental stress and the influence of surrounding events could have contributed to the students’ condition.

A senior Tribal Development Department official said the symptoms had no connection with anything supernatural and could instead represent a selective, hysteria-like response associated with psychological stress.

This distinction is important. The students’ experiences and symptoms were real, but the medical explanation offered by authorities differs sharply from the possession narrative that spread through the hostel.

Fear Spread Beyond The Students Who Initially Fell Ill

The incident demonstrates how an unexplained health episode can become significantly larger when it is interpreted through rumours and existing local beliefs.

According to the reports, the unusual behaviour initially involved only a small number of girls. But as stories about spirits and possession circulated, fear spread among a much larger group. Eventually, hundreds of students left the hostel.

The situation reportedly extended beyond the school as well. The psychological assessment cited by authorities said some women in the nearby village subsequently developed similar mental symptoms.

This further complicated the situation, as each new reported incident had the potential to reinforce the belief that something supernatural was happening.

The result was a cycle in which fear appeared to strengthen the rumours, while the rumours intensified fear.

Counselling Efforts Underway To Bring Students Back

With the supernatural explanation rejected by health officials, authorities have shifted their focus towards counselling and restoring confidence among students and parents.

The affected students are receiving treatment and counselling, while their parents have also been counselled. Officials are working with the school administration and mental health teams to address concerns and encourage students to return.

Members of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANIS), an organisation that campaigns against superstition and blind faith, have also visited the school and interacted with students.

The organisation has urged students and families to approach the incident from a scientific perspective instead of accepting supernatural explanations without evidence.

Some students have already started returning after counselling. Headmaster Sanjay Chaudhary said efforts were continuing to counsel the affected girls and bring more students back to school. Additional Commissioner (Tribal Development) Sandeep Golait has also appealed to people not to pay heed to rumours.

Authorities have indicated that efforts will be made to bring all students back to school within the following days, with the cooperation of the school administration and anti-superstition campaigners.

Amravati MP Appeals To Students And Parents

The incident has also prompted intervention from Amravati MP Balwant Wankhade, who appealed to students and their families not to panic and encouraged the students to resume attending classes.

The appeal comes as authorities attempt to prevent the rumours from becoming more deeply rooted in the surrounding community.

For a residential school where hundreds of children live away from their families, rebuilding trust is likely to be just as important as addressing the medical concerns. The students who left did so because they were frightened, and simply declaring the hostel safe may not be enough to overcome that fear.

Counselling, transparent communication and continued medical supervision are therefore central to the administration’s response.

No Evidence That The Maharashtra Hostel Is Haunted

Despite the dramatic claims surrounding the incident, there is currently no verified evidence that the Doma hostel is haunted or that any student was possessed.

What has been established is that several girls experienced unusual episodes beginning July 22, rumours of possession subsequently spread, and the resulting fear prompted nearly 600 students to leave the hostel. Health authorities have attributed the symptoms to psychological factors rather than paranormal activity.

The story is therefore less about proving or disproving a ghost story and more about understanding how fear can influence a community.

When unusual symptoms appear without an immediate explanation, rumours can quickly fill the information gap. In this case, local beliefs about spirits, stories surrounding the school premises and reports of strange sounds appear to have contributed to an atmosphere of anxiety.

Officials are now attempting to replace that fear with medical assessment, counselling and factual information.

The Larger Question Behind The ‘Haunted’ Hostel Story

The Doma school incident has raised a broader question about how unusual behaviour and mental distress are understood, particularly in communities where supernatural explanations remain influential.

For the affected students, the symptoms were not imaginary. At the same time, the medical findings reported by authorities do not support claims of possession. Treating the situation as a health and psychological issue allows the students to receive appropriate care without reinforcing the rumours that caused panic in the first place.

The challenge for authorities now is to ensure that students feel safe enough to return and that the affected girls receive continued support.

As counselling continues, officials hope the fear surrounding the Doma Government Tribal Ashram School will gradually subside. For now, the evidence points not to a haunted hostel, but to an unsettling chain of unusual symptoms, psychological stress, local beliefs and rapidly spreading rumours that led hundreds of students to leave their school.

With input from agencies

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