Mumbai: Police is investigating whether the suicide of a 14-year-old boy in suburban Mumbai is linked to the Blue Whale Challenge, a sinister internet game that is allegedly responsible for several youngsters committing suicide, mostly in Russia, from where the game originated.
The game exists in several countries and consists of a series of tasks assigned to players by administrators during a 50-day period, such as carving a whale on one’s hand with a blade or watching horror movies, and the final challenge requires the player to commit suicide.
“Soon the only thing you would be left with is a picture of me,” Manpreet Sahans, a class nine student of an international school in Andheri, posted on social media before leaping to his death from the terrace of his seven-storey building on Saturday evening. A man who saw him tried to stop the young lad from jumping and alerted the police.
Sahans lived with his parents and two sisters, who are in a state of shock and had travelled to Nashik to conduct the last rites. He had told his friends that he would not be attending school on Monday. He is reported to have talked about the game with his friends, who did not take him seriously when he mentioned suicide.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said in the state assembly: “The Blue Whale game is a dangerous game that has reportedly caused the tragic suicide of a young boy. This is a serious issue since the internet game has caused several suicides abroad and since it cannot be stopped, we will be asking the Centre to take action.”
Senior Mumbai Police officer Milind Khetle said the “Blue Whale” connection was being investigated and that the boy’s mobile phones and other gadgets were being examined. “Earlier, they used to play Pokemon and today they are addicted to the Blue Whale game. They follow instructions given to them by the game. We are investigating this angle, too,” he said.
He also said it was essential for parents to monitor their children’s activities and also keep in touch with other parents.
Surprisingly, Aasra, a helpline for the depressed and suicidal, has been receiving emails from young people wondering “how they should sign up for Blue Whale Challenge,” Johnson Thomas, director of Aasra, told Gulf News. “The media should not give so much importance to this game. Children, today, are living in virtual world rather than the real one,” he said.
About suicidal tendencies, he said there are no specific signs but parents should watch out for children behaving erratically, or different from their usual selves. “The main reason is the kids don’t have the resilience to deal with rejection. Today’s children get everything without making an effort; they have to be educated on making an effort to earn anything.
“Online games are an addiction today. Why aren’t parents stopping it, by letting their children use it mainly for the benefit of their own growth?” Many calls received by the helpline deal with failure in exams and in love, said Johnson.
