Bhawanipatna: A three-member team led by the Block Education Officer(BEO) visited the Bada Karlakota Sevashram school and inquired about the rituals conducted by an occultist in the school premises to cure the girls students falling ill.
Golap Singh, the BEO of Jayapatna, said, “I examined the situation and talked to the students as well as the PET of the Sevashram. They have accepted calling the occultist and performing puja. I will prepare a report and submit it to my higher-ups.”
Action will be taken against the concerned teacher and hostel warden of the Sevashram, he added.
The occultist performed the puja late at night for five days in the premises of the sevashram. Even a bird was sacrificed during the puja.
As per sources at the sevashram, the occultist was called to the institution after abnormal behaviour was seen among seven girl students following the death of a student, identified as Bidulata Pujari.
Uma Bharti, a student of the Karlakote Sevashram, said, “He (the occultist) was taming the ghost after the headmaster and PET brought him here. A pigeon was sacrificed yesterday.”
Accepting the presence of the occultist in the premises of the institution, Raghunath Hembram, PET of the Sevashram, said, “Initially, we had not given the permission. However, the elders of the village insisted on the a puja to rid the girls of the Sevashram of the spell of the evil spirit. We know it is wrong, but the villagers forced us to call the occultist.”