By Express News Service

KOLLAM: ‘Illuminati Membership Forum’ - an Instagram group run by some anonymous people who are allegedly involved in occult practices - is targeting children, especially teenagers.

In a recent incident, a Class X student hailing from Kollam somehow managed to wriggle out of the tentacles of this sinister group.

The teenager was made to perform some bizarre tasks. When he tried to back off, they started sending threatening messages.

The frightened boy told his parents of all that transpired and they, in turn, lodged a complaint with the district collector.

More details of this group came out after the boy was subjected to counselling by the Kollam District Child Protection (DCP) Unit.

The Instagram group

The boy had access to his father’s smartphone and that was how he came across the Instagram group. The group administrators promised to take him abroad for higher studies apart from offering a car, a palatial house and $50,000. The child paid the membership fee of Rs 2,000 online and provided his father’s mobile number.

Then the child started receiving repeated messages urging him to worship ‘Lucifer’ and he was also promised occult powers.

The boy was also sent a video message with details on how to take an oath that he would never leave the group at any cost. People from Nigeria and South Africa contacted the child via video call, said Prasanna Kumari, district child protection officer (DCPO).

The tasks

He was asked to perform different weird tasks at night. Based on the information provided by the child, a person named Ameen from Thiruvananthapuram, who was also a member of the group was assigned to monitor the boy. As part of the first task, the child was asked to walk to a mosque near his house after midnight.

In the second task, he was directed to walk on a railway bridge across the lake after midnight. Ameen, who was dressed in black, came on a motorbike to monitor the task and he recorded a video of the boy doing it.

According to the officer, the boy was then made to take an oath by inflicting a wound on three fingers. They also sent prayers for him to recite before going to sleep. One day, they told him to collect the blood of a goat as part of worshipping Lucifer. In fact, the boy did try to source the blood with the help of his friends, but it ended in a fiasco.

As per their instruction, the boy also managed to get a passport by convincing his parents that he was looking for an internship programme abroad. To create a veneer of credibility, the administrators also sent him a fake document with details of the foreign internship. Finally, they demanded `50,000 to build a house of worship for Lucifer. The child could manage to pay only `14,000 after pawning his gold chain. When he refused further payment, they started sending threatening messages.

Group members

“The child has informed us that he is not the sole member of the group from the state. They told him that there are other members from all districts in Kerala. They also told him to organise prayers with the members of Kollam and Kochi,” said the DCPO.

“The police have registered a case and they are tracking down the people who are involved in the incident,” said Prasanna Kumari.

Threat messages

The teen was made to perform some bizarre tasks. When he tried to back off, the members of the sinister group started sending threatening messages.