A very disturbing, sickening game may have made its way to India. At least 130 teens in Russia have taken their lives since 2015 after being part of this deadly challenge called Blue Whale that asks its participants to commit suicide. Investigations are still going on in various countries and the exact number of deaths still being ascertained but from what it looks like, we need to be very careful here in India. Last week, 14-year-old Manpreeet Singh Sahani jumped off a building in Andheri (E), Mumbai, triggering probes and pleas. Here is what you need to know about this disturbing trend, especially if you are a parent:
-The game called Blue Whale Challenge originated in Russia in 2013 on a social media website VKontakte.
-The game’s administrators apparently choose its participants from various online ‘suicide groups’ and ‘death groups’. Then on the basis of Skype conversations and a few initial tasks given to them like watching gory, unsettling videos, the finalists, mostly impressionable teens, are selected for the game and given 50-day tasks.
These 50 tasks begin with challenges like making cuts on hands, lips, legs (as shown in the picture), watching scary movies at 4 am, standing on the edge of the roof, listening to depressing music etc. The intensity of the tasks increases as the challenge proceeds and on the last day, you are asked to commit suicide.
-Apparently, you cannot quit the game as the administrators obtain your personal details in the process and threaten you with them if you try to quit.
-Philipp Budeikin, a former psychology student and a college dropout, has admitted to creating this game and persuading several teenagers to commit suicide by psychologically manipulating them.
Still in his early twenties, he was arrested in 2016. "There are people - and there is biological waste. Those who do not represent any value for society. Who cause or will cause only harm to society. I was cleaning our society of such people," he reportedly told the media.
Several countries have taken measures to educate parents and ban the game. But reportedly, it is still being operated through secret online groups. The Maharashtra government, too, has raised concern following the death of Sahani, and has asked the Centre to intervene. But the probe is still going on and we are yet to see a conclusive step in this direction.
Last year, several deaths and accidents were linked to another online game called Pokemon Go. The Blue Whale Challenge, however, has taken it to a completely another level and given it a horribly sick dimension. What, in your opinion, should be done?
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