Shimla mystery suicide: ‘Solve puzzle’, wrote 10-yr-old victim in suicide note; Blue Whale suspected

The suicide note written on a school notebook carries a hand-drawn puzzle captioned, “Ye puzzle suljhao (Solve this puzzle)”. The victim also writes, “Slitting veins etc is not a punishment. I will punish myself by hanging.”

Two days after a 10-year-old student of Gurukul Public School, Deha, in Shimla district, was found hanging from the storeroom of his house, it is still not clear whether he was the victim of the internet game, the blue whale challenge.

The victim wrote, “Slitting veins etc is not a punishment. I will punish myself by hanging.” (Shutterstock photo/Representative image)

In his suicide note, the victim had challenged everyone, including the police, to solve the mystery of his death.

The last line in the suicide note found from his room says, “Solve this puzzle”. He also wrote that no one loved him. The student of Gurukul Public School, Deha, was found hanging from the storeroom in his house on Tuesday. He was taken to Theog Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead.

The mention of slitting veins has made the police suspect the Blue Whale challenge. “It wasn’t possible for him to play the game. He did not have access to either internet or mobile phone for long,” a police officer said. “However for the last few days he used to play some game on the mobile phone of a carpenter working in their house.”

The police are yet to register a case and are investigating the matter. A team headed by Assistant Sub-Inspector Chet Ram visited the spot on Wednesday. “So far there is no evidence of Blue Whale challenge. We are investigating the case,” said SP Shimla Soumya Sambasivan, who was on his way to the victim’s house. He added, “We have already recorded the statement of the victim’s father.”

Incidentally, the school management had organised an awareness campaign about the perils of blue whale challenge a day before the purported suicide. “He was not amongst those who said they play any games on phone; no one mentioned the blue whale game,” said Gian Singh, managing director of the school. He added that they also inspected the wrists and arms of the students.

Are Shimla children vulnerable?

A study conducted by doctors of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, has revealed that at least 30% of the school-going children in the age group of 16-19 years in the state capital experienced suicidal thoughts in 2015.

In Shimla, most children either live with grandparents or with their mother. “Children do no interact with grandparents or parents. If there is some problem, instead of talking to elders at home, most children prefer to consult friends,” the study said.