iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The Blue Whale challenge, or the “suicide game”, has been associated with the death of an Indian student in the US says the Bristol County District Attorney.
The 20-year-old student was found dead in a car in Freetown, a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts on March 8.
This death was widely reported as a murder in which the student was misidentified as enrolled at Boston University and was said to have been robbed and the body was found in a car in a jungle.
The boy was a first-year student at the University of Massachusetts.
Gregg Miliote, a spokesperson for the Bristol County District Attorney, has now said the case is being investigated as “apparent suicide.” The student’s name is being withheld as per his family’s wishes.
It is believed that the 20-year-old student from Andhra Pradesh was involved in the Blue Whale challenge, which led to his death by suicide. However, US officials investigating the case have neither confirmed nor denied this. “We have no information on this. The case is being investigated as an apparent suicide,” Miliote said.
Blue Whale Challenge is an online game where participants are given 50 tasks to complete over 50 days. The tasks get increasingly difficult as the days progress. As the final task, participants are challenged to kill themselves.
The University of Massachusetts student died while holding his breath, officials say.
The Indian government had wanted to ban this game years ago but settled for a more detailed advisory instead, IANS reported. In its advisory issued in 2017, the IT ministry described the game as “abetment to suicide.” The Blue Whale challenge is shared among secretive groups on social media networks, the advisory said, citing internet reports.
It cautioned that the creators seek out people who are battling depression and invite them to join the challenge. An anonymous “curator”, aka “group administrator”, hands out tasks that the players must complete within 50 days.
The tasks must be completed, documented and posted online. “Players of the challenge can’t stop playing once they’ve started; they are blackmailed and cyber bullied into completing the ‘game’,” the advisory notes.
