It’s important to note that few, if any, of the thousands of factory workers claimed they personally encountered the ghost or had anything to do with it. And apparently, the woman herself didn’t claim to actually see the ghost; instead, she said she felt sick and assumed that a ghost was responsible. Whereas American ghosts aren’t typically thought of as spending a lot of time in the bathroom, in the Middle East and Asia, the idea of a ghost or spirit haunting a toilet is not uncommon. For example, genies and other spirits are said to dwell in many places, including toilets and sewers, and Japanese folklore tells of Hanako-san, a spirit that resides in women’s bathrooms.

There is no real treatment for mass hysteria (other than attention from doctors or other authorities); the episodes tend to run their course and fade away almost as quickly as they started. Factories — full of textiles, chemicals, smells, stress and boredom — are ideal environments for the development of mass hysteria.

There is one significant difference between most cases of mass hysteria and this case: The Gazipur factory workers (taking their cues from the sick woman) decided that they “know” what is to blame, and that explanation (no matter how fantastic) has a culturally clear and well-defined remedy: ritual exorcism.