The Internet is a scary place to live in. Amidst hundreds and thousands of timeline/feed activities, the easy-on-eye ‘Instagram’ compilation is a sad excuse of life we are living. And like cyber-bullying wasn’t enough, the dark alleys of interweb spew out webs, webs that clutch one and push many to do the unthinkable. The latest being- BLUE WHALE CHALLENGE!
Just to jog your memory, the infamous online game has been reportedly responsible for hundreds of teenage suicides around the world including 14-year-old from Mumbai.
And as it seems, it is on its way of claiming more…
According to Hindustan Times, a class 7 student from Indore recently tried to commit suicide by jumping off the third floor of his school building to complete the Blue Whale challenge.
Fortunately, his classmates who were quick to intervene saved his life after they noticed that he was leaning over the third-floor railing of the school.
Initially, they thought he was looking down at something but soon sensed a foul-play and shouted for help. The boy was apparently on the 50th day of the challenge where the controllers of the game had provoked him to jump from the building.
Officials suggest that the incident took place at the city’s Chameli Devi Public School soon after the assembly was over. The school’s physical education teacher, Farooq Sheikh, who rushed to help the boy said,
“We took him to the principal’s room where he confessed attempting suicide as part of the Blue Whale Challenge he was playing on his father’s mobile.”
The school principal, Sangeeta Podar, asserted that the boy’s parents and the police were informed immediately after the incident. She said,
“We counselled the boy and also his father.”
The Indore incident comes a day after Pune police rescued another 14-year-old boy, who had left home after reportedly playing the killer game. Needless to say, the game provokes vulnerable teenagers, pushing them to kill themselves. Amidst all, the question remains, how can this menace be curbed?