Blue Whale, the online game which originated in Russia, starts by asking participants via social media to draw... Read More

INDORE: A Class VII student attempted to jump off the third floor of his school building, in a bid to commit suicide, while allegedly following instructions given in an online game, but was saved by his classmates.

This is apparently the second case of a child taking dire steps while following instructions given to him in the online game after the suicide by a boy in Mumbai.

The minor told his teachers that he had failed to complete the task given in the game he played on his fathers’ phone, thus was asked to commit suicide by jumping off a height.

The incident took place in Chameli Devi School under Rajendra Nagar police station. The minor was going towards his class after the morning assembly when he climbed atop the railing but was caught by his classmates.

Physical training teacher Sheikh Mohommad Farukh who pulled the boy away from the railing said that the boy was highly irritated when he was stopped from jumping.

“The boy was initially scared, but later told us that he could not complete a task given to him while playing an online game and was asked to commit suicide,” school principal Sangeeta Poddar told TOI.

The principal raised an alarm, claiming that she had heard online games like Blue Whale which give different tasks to players, including that of committing suicide.

In a bid to avoid panic, the school summoned the parents telling them that the child was ill. Since the child’s mother was ill, neighbours came to pick him up.

“When the neighbours came to know about the grave nature of the case, they immediately called child’s father, who picked him up from school,” PT teacher Farukh said.

The school subsequently informed the police, who were investigating the matter. Additional superintendent of police Rupesh Dwivedi told TOI, “The online game is downloaded on his father’s mobile phone which he often used to play with. We are looking into the matter and have instructed the school to counsel the child and his parents.”

Online games like the Blue Whale, ask participants via social media to draw a figures on paper and then carve them on their bodies. They are also given other tasks like watching horror movies alone. The challenge finally ends with a task wherein the participants are asked to commit suicide.

