School Children in Peru Possessed by Demon: Fact Check

Story: 

Demon Possessed Nearly 100 Children in Peru, have Contagious Seizures in Haunted School.

Other Versions

1. Dozens of children from Elsa Perea Flores School in Peru suffer the outbreak of contagious demonic possession.

2. Mass Demonic Possession Event! Devil Possessed 100 School Children in Peru, having seizures, visions of a Man in black!

Facts Analysis:

A mysterious story doing rounds online along with few videos purports to show Dozens of Children from Elsa Perea Flores School in Peru are Demon Possessed. Allegedly, they suffer Contagious Seizures, Hallucinations, Crying and visions of a Man in black. Although the reported incident in the videos is a fact, the paranormal association of demonic possession is a hoax.

School Children in Peru Possessed by Demon?

From 29 April 2016, dozens of children at the Elsa Flores School in Tarapoto (Northern Peru) in fact showed erratic behavior including convulsions, hallucinations, vomiting and fainting. The mysterious incident was initially thought as a mass demonic possession. There were rumors the school was built over a Mafia graveyard, and during the construction of the school, workers unearthed mass graves harboring bones of people who had been tortured and killed by the local Mafia.

Other locals suggested it is a demonic attack, thinking the school children may have tampered with games like Ouija board, summoning demons. There were also the suggestions the incident is a result of a gas leak or some food or environmental contamination. The video below shows a Spanish news report of the mysterious incident in the School of Peru.

What Doctors Said

Although doctors could not find the reasons behind the initial outbreak, the incident in which the school children in Peru suffered seizures and convulsions was dubbed as a case of Contagious Mass Hysteria. The affected students became normal after treatment. Likewise, social psychologists and mental health experts have claimed these incidences are a product of fear and anxiety disseminating within a population, like a student body stressed out during finals week. Nonetheless, some local and international media outlets ran the story associating it with darker possibilities.

Mass Hysteria Incidents Not New

Such incidents of Mass Hysteria, more specifically known as mass psychogenic illnesses, are not new and not uncommon. In mid April 2016 somewhat similar incident occurred in Malaysia as some school students were sent home after they were alleged to be possessed. In this case the students reported seeing a black figure lurking around their school. Again in June 2016, 22 schoolgirls in Colombia ‘suffered mass demonic possession’ and foamed at mouth after playing game of ‘Charlie Charlie’. Back in 2010 also two all-girls secondary schools in Brunei reported similar incidents of mass hysteria. Symptoms included screaming, shaking and crying, some also claiming possession of spirits.

So, what is dubbed as a mass demonic possession event as dozens of school children in Peru exhibit seizure related scary symptoms is actually an incident of contagious mass hysteria.

Hoax or Fact:

Mixture of Hoax and Facts.

References:

80 schoolkids suffer seizures and hallucinations – but doctors don’t know what’s causing it