Nuwakot, January 7:

Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT) has started treatment of 13 students of the Shakti Secondary School of Madanpur of Nuwakot, who have been suffering from a mystery illness since the past one and half months.

CVICT, after learning of the incident from a news item published in The Himalayan Times on December 7, 2005, that students of the school fainted as soon as they entered the classrooms, took the students to Kathmandu and has started their treatment.

Counselor Lalita Upadhyay of CVICT said the students were taken to Kathmandu on Wednesday and their treatment started from Thursday.

A total of 16 students of the fifth grade of the school are suffering from the mystery illness from the past one and half months, she said.

The teachers of the school informed that these students complained of headache, immense thirst and then fainted in the class. Nuwakot representative of the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Keshav Mishra, said INSEC and Human Rights and Awareness Centre had helped take these students to the CVICT treatment centre.

Counselor Upadhyay told The Himalayan Times today that physicians and psychiatrists are making efforts to diagnose the disease. She added that there has been a decrease in the fainting spells of these students after they were brought to Kathmandu. Counselor Upadhyay said the students are being involved in entertaining activities like games and sight seeing. She added it might take one week to diagnose the disease.