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'Paralysed' reality show contestant suffering from encephalomyelitis

June 30, 2008 12:13 IST

Kolkata girl Sinjini Sengupta, who was reportedly 'paralysed' after being rebuked by the judges of a reality TV show, is suffering from Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis.

The teenager's family had claimed that she was unable to speak and was paralysed after the judges harshly criticised her performance in a reality show.

However, doctors at the neurological department of NIMHANS, Bangalore, where she is being treatment, told rediff.com that it is a case of neurological disorder.

Medical experts say that ADEM, which is characterised by a brief attack of inflammation in the brain and the spinal cord, is usually caused by viral infection.

Sources say that Sinjini, a college student, was fine when she participated in the show, She started suffering from ADEM only after her stint in the reality show got over.  Doctors at NIHMANS have assured her family that the treatment may take some time, but there is nothing to worry about.

Sinjini's father Dilip Sengupta had accused a local television channel of being responsible for his daughter's 'paralysis', claiming his daughter had sunk into depression after she was eliminated from the show. He said that his daughter was humiliated when one of the judges on the show rebuked her and gave her only four out of ten points.

The case had attracted a tremendous amount of media attention and raised questions about the pressure exerted by parents and TV channels, on the contestants of reality TV shows.

Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru