Students spooked by campus 'haunting'

Students at a Delhi university have been given an unexpected week off - thanks to a ghost on the campus.

Students at a Delhi university have been given an unexpected week off - thanks to a ghost on the campus.

There have been no new classes at the Indian Statistical Institute's Delhi branch since Friday, and most of the students have gone home for a week. The reason is that students have become convinced the institute is being haunted.

They say a ghost is roaming the corridors, knocking on doors, jostling the students on the stairs and leaving strange and unexplained odours of aftershave, deodorant and cigarette smoke lingering around the buildings.

Students say they recognise the strong smell of aftershave and deodorant as that worn by a fellow student who died during a class at the institute only a month ago.

"A girl who never smokes felt a strong stench of cigarettes in her bathroom. The boy who died used to smoke a lot," Saptrishi, the institute's student representative, told The Times of India newspaper.

The student was suffering from a rare heart condition, according to doctors. But several students witnessed his death, and the institute's authorities fear the ghost scare may be an effect of the shock.

So far, the authorities have not stood in the way of metaphysical solutions on the part of the students. When some of them wanted to visit a temple to pray for relief from the ghost, the institute laid on a car. But some teaching staff are said not to be so keen on suggestions from the students for further prayer to exorcise the ghost.