35 Students in Chhattisgarh School Inflict Injuries On Wrist, Probe Ordered

Raipur: In a suspected case of ‘peer imitation’, 35 students, including 14 girls, in a government school in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district were found to have inflicted injuries on their wrists, alarming the parents and the teachers.

The bizarre incident, which happened over a period of five months, has been reported in the Government Middle School in the village of Dahadaha under Kurud block.

The mass wrist-slashing incident came to light when the parents of an affected student reported the matter to the principal of the school Punit Ram Sahu a week ago.

Parents of a student noticed a cut mark in his wrist and reported the matter to the principal of the school on February 13, bringing to light the incident, Dhamtari district deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ragini Mishra told this newspaper.

A joint team comprising the local sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP), block education officer along with a team of medical officers visited the school to probe the matter, according to the police officer.

The probe team interacted with the teachers, parents and students to go deep into the incident.

The findings of the probe have indicated that it may be a case of ‘peer imitation’, done playfully by the students, the police officer said.

The investigation has found no case of psychological disorder, online game addiction or substance misuse among these students, she added.

Preliminary probe suggested that some students had noticed such kinds of things in youths outside the school and tried to imitate them, sources said.

“Then wrist-slashing incident literally became infectious among the students, leading them to experiment with it. The incident took place over a period of five months. One Class eight student even told the probe team that he did it when he was studying in Class five”, the police officer said.

It has been found that the students had inflicted injuries on their wrists at different times and at different places, the police officer said.

Safety pins or blades may have been used by them to inflict ‘superficial’ injuries, she said.

Wounds in all the 35 students have been completely healed, sources said.

Prima facies it appears that it is a childish act by the students, done playfully by imitating others, the probe has indicated.

These students belonged to Class six, Class seven and Class eight.

The parents and students were counseled by a team of motivators.

“Although everything is found normal, we are still keeping a watch on the students”, a member of the probe team said.

Meanwhile, the principal of the school has been slapped with a show cause notice over the incident by the district administration, source said.