Published: August 17, 2023 9:20 PM IST 
Panaji, Goa: Eleven schoolgirls were hospitalised after being pepper-sprayed by classmates at a higher-secondary school in Bicholim area of North Goa with officials terming the incident as an act of “mischief” perpetrated by their fellow students.
According to a senior police official, the incident took place when the girls were inside the classroom.
“As per the complaint received from the management of the school, some girl students started feeling uneasy and breathless when another group of students used pepper spray on them as mischief,” the official said, adding that eleven girl students were initially referred to the Community Health Centre at Bicholim, and three of them were later admitted to the District Hospital in Mapusa town.
Bicholim MLA Dr Chandrakant Shetye, who rushed to the District Hospital, said the condition of all the students admitted there was stable. Majority of the students, except two, would be discharged soon, he said.
The police have asked the school management to set up a disciplinary committee and investigate the incident, Shetye said.
“Initial inquiry has revealed that some students sprayed the pepper from outside the classroom through the window,” he said.
The management has told police that it has already suspended four students from the school for their misconduct, the MLA added.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Patkar along with party MLA Carlos Ferreira also visited the students at the district hospital.
“It is unfortunate that students are resorting to this kind of mischievous behaviour,” he told reporters.
According to him, some parents informed him that a similar incident had happened on last Friday in the school, although it was on a smaller scale.
(With PTI inputs)
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