Parents in Maldives seek police help saying magician made their kids ill

A Police report has been filed against a man in Laamu atoll Maamendhoo said to be responsible for the mysterious illness plaguing the Grade 10 students of Maamendhoo School. Students of the school have been falling sick or fainting in class for no apparent reason since school began this year and now their parents, with the help of a fandithaveriyaa (black magician), have discovered that another black magician in the island was responsible for the illness.
Parents of students said last Thursday that they had hired the services of another black magician three weeks ago to get to the bottom of the mysterious illness. After three weeks of hard work, the man had found that a person from another island who is married to a resident of Maamendhoo, and was living in the island, was responsible. They had even found the hexes responsible for the illness and handed it over to the Police, the parents said.
Officials from the Police Station in the island confirmed that they were investigating the possibility that a black magician was involved but added that they had not made any arrests yet.
Three students, who were too sick to attend school, were expelled from the school due to absenteeism. A school official said that they had expelled the three students on the written request of the parents.
Parents of one of the expelled students said that they had been forced to make the decision because the school hadn’t been very supportive in helping students, who had been unable to attend classes due to the illness, recover their missed lessons.
“This is their O’ Level year and if they can’t go to school then its wasted money to enroll in the exams,” the parents, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “It’s been four months since they were unable to attend school.”
The parents also said that their children were recovering now under the administration of the black magician they had hired.