Kerala Teen Allegedly Commits Suicide, Family Suspects Blue Whale Game

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Kerala Police have begun investigations into the death of a 16-year-old boy in Thiruvananthapuram after his family raised doubts that it was due to the Blue Whale Challenge game.
The school student from Vilapilasala near Thiruvananthapuram allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his house on July 26. The boy’s mother today told a Malayalam TV channel that her son had downloaded the game in November last.
“He said in the last stage of the game, one should either commit suicide or murder someone. I got scared after hearing it and asked my son not to play the game,” she said.
She said the boy had once hurt himself using a compass and jumped into a river though he did not know how to swim. He was later rescued.
Before he took the extreme step, my son had deleted the game from his mobile phone, the woman added. The statements of the family have been recorded and investigations are on, police said.
The Centre has directed internet majors – Google, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo – to immediately remove links of the ‘dangerous’ online game, which has reportedly led to suicide of children in India and other countries.
On August 12, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had urged the Centre to take immediate steps to ban the Blue Whale Challenge in the country “to save precious lives”.