The Blue Whale Challenge claimed yet another life, possibly the first in the Union Territory of Puducherry after a Pondicherry University student hung himself from a tree. Initial police investigation points to the Blue Whale Challenge as the reason, said ANI.
Earlier on Wednesday, the suicide of a 19-year-old college student named J Vickey near Vilacheri in Madurai district prompted an investigation into whether his death was caused by the blue whale challenge. The suspicion came up after police found a blue-whale-shaped mark on his left forearm.
Vickey, who was a second year student of commerce in a city college, was found hanging at his residence in Mottamalai.
His body was discovered at 4:15 pm on Wednesday. The younger son of a baker, he had bought a mobile phone only recently.
The Blue Whale Challenge that reportedly involves a list of 50 tasks ends with the player jumping off a building.
Though Vickey hanged himself to death, police are probing the Blue Whale angle on noticing a blue-whale-shaped mark on his forearm and a note that said: “the blue whale challenge is not a game and is dangerous, once you start you cannot escape.”
"We suspect the boy could have been playing the game. Further investigation is underway in the case," said Madurai SP Manivannan.
The Blue Whale Challenge is a morbid social media ‘game’ which targets vulnerable teens and pushes them to inflict self-harm and ultimately commit suicide. The challenge involves many tasks, which are given by an administrator or curator, which have to be completed one by one.
After the sinister game was suspected to have claimed three lives in India the Indian government on August 15 directed Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo to remove links to the Blue Whale challenge immediately.
(This article was originally published in The News Minute, and has been republished here with permission)
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