Earlier this week, about 3,500 workers at a factory near Gazipur protested the factory owner’s lack of action regarding a “ghost” by stopping work and smashing furniture. The police responded to the riot with tear gas.
The workers from Bangladesh claimed that a “ghost” had been attacking them and making them ill. The reports began with a woman who claimed that she had been attacked in the restroom by a “ghost.” The woman felt ill after the attack.
Fox News reports that the illnesses could be attributed to psychological distress after a series of disasters involving garment workers in the past six months.
In April, 129 workers were killed when a nine-story factory collapsed. Over 3,000 workers were trapped under the building. Many had to undergo amputations in order to be rescued from the ruble.
Live Science reports that the illnesses could also be attributed to mass hysteria, which is also known as mass sociogenic illness. Mass hysteria begins when people under stress turn that stress into physical illness. Those surrounding these individuals may begin to show signs of the same illness.
The factory owners offered prayers and distributed food to the poor in an effort to drive the ghost out of the factory on Wednesday. The factory reopened on Thursday, two days after the factory was forced to shut down.