SUICIDE GAME: School Boy Jumps To Death As Part Of Blue Whale 

Mumbai: Meghwadi police officials have confirmed that a 14-year-old boy, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the seventh floor terrace of an Andheri (East) building, was part of an online suicide game, Blue Whale Game/Challenge.

The police unofficially confirmed this after examining his browsing record on the Internet as gleaned from his mobile phone and desktop computer. The boy, Manpreet Singh, had discussed the online game with his friends in a WhatsApp group. The police will also examine Singh’s laptop that is password-protected. The online game, played over a period of 50 days, ends with daring a participant to take the challenge for committing suicide. Singh jumped off the terrace on Saturday and died the same day.

The Class IX student is probably the first victim of the game in India that has so far allegedly killed many in Russia and Europe. The police has questioned his school friends about his involvement in the game but nothing has cropped up until now. No cut marks were found on his body.

The police will question the members of the WhatsApp group where Singh had discussed about Blue Whale Challenge. On the condition of anonymity, the officials investigating this case revealed that Singh, who had jumped off the terrace of his building after shooting a video of himself while walking on the parapet of the terrace, was connected to the Blue Whale challenge. The officials added that Singh’s parents and friends were unaware of his participation in such a game.

The Meghwadi police had sent a team to Manpreet’s school to check with his classmates, but it turned up nothing. However, when this newspaper contacted ACP Milind Khetle, he said, “The case is being investigated with all the possible angles and one of them is the Blue Whale challenge. So far nobody knew about his involvement in the game, we couldn’t rule out or confirm anything.”

ACP Khetle further added, “We could not meet his family members as they have gone to Nashik to perform post-death rituals.” Singh did not leave behind any suicide note and the police has filed an Accidental Death Report as of now.

The boy had reportedly told his friends that he would not be attending school from Monday.

Sunny Valia, a friend, said all his friends knew that he was playing the Blue Whale game. “He had in fact told them that he was going to commit suicide, but they thought he was joking,” said Valia.

The Blue Whale challenge is difficult to track and hunt down. There is nothing much the government or police can do to stop the spread of the Blue whale challenge, said gamers and IT experts.

Moreover, since the players share their personal phone numbers and email addresses, the developers keep using different psychological tactics to get them back by sending mails and messages.

Schools officials, who spoke to students, said the teenager was an avid gamer and had been talking about going to Russia since past two years.

“Students said he was addicted to games, but we don’t know for sure if it was the Blue Whale challenge. We are angry inside. This isn’t a way to throw away your life when your parents have done everything to ensure a comforting life for you,” said a teacher.

The boy’s teachers said that he was a brilliant student, behaved well, had a pleasant personality and a lot of friends.

Cybercrime expert Vijay Ram Mukhi stressed on need of vigilance among parents, rather than blaming the game which is almost impossible to stop.

“The police can try tracing the circulation links, but they will only be wasting their time because the game has been possibly pulled off popular search engines. When I tried looking for it, I couldn’t find the download links and then I realized that the links are basically shared in Russian or Chinese languages so the search engines with servers in India can’t locate them,” said Mukhi.

“The game has caused deaths across the world and people believe it originated in Russia, but I don’t think anybody can confirm it. Developers of the game, using their servers in China or Russia and through chat groups or gaming forums, circulate the link amongst the teenagers who are already suffering from suicidal tendencies and brainwash them into harming themselves and take their life,” said Mukhi.

When asked how teenagers are able to download the game or access it through social media, experts said that their familiarity with foreign gamers and international chat forums is what makes them vulnerable. “There are people I know who learnt Chinese because they want to download latest movies,” Mukhi added.

Mumbai Police take up the Blue Whale challenge case after 14-yr-old boy ‘commits’ suicide

The teen’s death has sparked the fear that the dangerous self-harm challenge could have made its way to India through social media.

The case has sparked fears the dangerous self-harm game could have made its way India through social media.

The game, believed to have originated in Russia, reportedly goads youngsters to do self-harm tasks for 50 days before they are encouraged to “win” the game by killing themselves.

In this case, a witness in the opposite building said he called out to the boy when he saw him walking along the edge of the terrace.

According to his statement to the police, he saw the boy try to make at least two attempts to jump. He called him, but the boy did not respond. The witness rushed out to get help, but by the time he reached down, the boy had jumped off the building.

The police is studying how the game is played. According to a source, the police have not found anything in his mobile and his parents are unaware if any such thing was related to the alleged suicide. However, there were some chats on WhatsApp groups by friends of the victim about the death being linked to the online suicide challenge.

The police said it will be checking his laptop and social media accounts.

The game is believed to have been the brainchild of an arrested Russian national who admitted to have psychologically manipulated to convince teen girls to kill themselves, and has since then claimed more than 100 lives in Russia and UK.

While a team from Meghwadi police is investigating all possible angles to figure out the reason behind the suicide, psychologists say one should not jump into conclusions on what led to the child taking the drastic step.

Pandurang Patil, senior police inspector of Meghwadi police station, said, “A team led by an inspector spoke to the victim’s friends.” One of the victim’s friends posted on Facebook that the suicide was linked to the Blue Whale challenge. Any conclusion will be drawn only after the investigation is over. Also, the police are yet to recover the child’s laptop, which will bring further clarity.

Dr Harish Shetty, a known psychiatrist, said, “It is important to conduct a psychological autopsy before jumping to any conclusion. Investigating agencies should figure out the conduct of the boy for the past two to three months. Was he aloof? Did he fare well in his exams? Was he staying away from friends, are the questions that need to be answered.”