Believe it or not, a ghost scare has forced teachers, students and guardians to shun a junior high school in Swayamvar Chhapra Bigahi village of Ballia’s Belhari tehsil for almost a decade.The classes of this deserted school are run in a nearby primary school as teachers and villagers believe that the school building is an abode of ghosts. According to them, many teachers passed away untimely and many other faced extreme adversaries after joining this school. However, some people of Pasi community, who extract ‘tadi’ (toddy), have made their huts in the school compound.“No one wants to teach here. Even village families are not ready to send their children to this school owing to the ghost scare,” says acting headmaster Mukesh Kumar.To validate his stance, he says that two-three teachers have passed away untimely and unexpectedly after joining the school.“The fear of ghostly presence in the school has gripped all of us, hence the teaching work was shifted to the primary school. Though scientific temperament does not allow us to believe in ghosts, some negative energy definitely exists in this school,” he says.Expressing a similar opinion, Satish Kumar Mishra, a teacher, says that tragedy started soon after the school came into existence. The teacher in whose time the school was built passed away after some time. Similar incidents happened with a few other teachers, too. Such incidents sent a wave of fear among the teachers and villagers, he adds. It did not take long for them to request the administration to change the venue of classes. Authorities agreed to shift classes to the primary school.A shiksha mitra, Suresh Kumar Tiwari, seconds Mishra. Students too feel the same.“Hum log wahan padhne nahi jate hain, kyonki log kahate hain ki woh bhutaha school hai (We do not go there to study, as people say that it is haunted by ghosts),” says Manish, a student.Like him, 30 other students of the ill-fated junior high school attend their classes in the primary school building.Ramanuj Pathak, a villager, also has a similar view, saying that guardians do not send their children to this ‘bhutaha’ school. “I did not allow my son to attend that school,” he says.Shopkeeper Rammurti Singh, who has been running his shop near the school for the past 10 years, says that he has seen the school shut since the time he can remember.However, there is a group of people who may not be complaining.“Since the school is closed for a long time, it has become a haven for drug addicts and alcoholics. Some families have made it their abode. It remains crowded during toddy season. Interestingly, they are not scared by ghosts believing that ghosts do not hurt tree climbers,” he says.There is also a vend of country-made liquor nearby. According to locals, people leave empty bottles in the school compound after consuming liquor.The authorities of basic education department are tight-lipped over the issue.District basic shiksha adhikari of Ballia Santosh Kumar Rai says, “We will look into the matter.”When chotikatwa came callingA year after nine women reported that a mysterious hand was chopping off their braids, the police have failed to find who the ‘ghost barber’ was. The cases were reported with Kotwali, Attarsuiya, Kaudhiyara, Ghurpur and Meja police stations of Allahabad between August and September 2017. Police have submitted final reports with the assurance that investigations would continue if cases were reported. Between August 3 and September 7, 2017, the scare of ‘Chotikatwa’ was at its peak as braids of women one after another were chopped off in rural as well as urban areas. SSP Allahabad Nitin Tiwari says police had shut all cases and no one was found to be responsible for the incidents. In many cases, ‘victims’ were not even willing to file cases. Officers investigating these cases said it was all an attempt to draw the public’s attention and get names and photographs of certain people highlighted.Rural areas of Mirzapur and Chandauli and parts of Varanasi had experienced the ‘Muhnochwa’ scare in July 2002. Some flying object emitting beams of red or green light gave electric shocks and injuries to those who came in contact with it, especially at night. The phenomenon remained a mystery as there was no concrete evidence except the experience of victims who sustained injury marks that resembled scratching with nails. However, psychiatrists dismissed it as a rumour and phobia among people having a sense of insecurity. People had varied opinions about shape and size of Muhnochwa. Some claimed it was just like a hawk, others described it as a cat, rubber doll, aircraft, or some remote-controlled object.

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