Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has expressed concern over the impact of The Blue Whale internet game, which reportedly has claimed the life of a teenager in India.
Bachchan posted on Twitter: “Life is given to live, not give it up before time. Reading alarming news on a dangerous internet game being played by the young!”
He was referring to 14-year old schoolboy Manpreet Singh Sahani allegedly walking off the fifth floor of his building in Shere-e-Punjab Colony in Andheri East on July 30 evening.
Before his death, the class nine student texted a friend of his intentions: “I am going to the building to jump.”
Before anybody could rush to help him, he had already jumped.
His friends claim that he was playing the 50-day ‘dare challenge’ of The Blue Whale group and when he spoke of not attending school anymore, most of his friends dismissed it lightly.
The Blue Whale Challenge is an online challenge that originated in Russia on a social network called VKontakte.
Participants have to complete a dare and upload selfies or videos to prove that they have completed the task assigned. The game starts with simple challenges such as taking a walk in a deserted alley at night, but soon veers to more risky tasks such as cutting up a body part, etc, and the final challenge is to commit suicide.
