Mumbai teen jumps to death, cops suspect links to Blue Whale challenge

According to reports, the Blue Whale suicide game is a social media group provoking youngsters to kill themselves.

A 14-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of an Andheri (East) building on Saturday. The police are probing if the death is related to Blue Whale suicide challenge, an online social media group that allegedly goads vulnerable teens into killing themselves.

Purported photo of a “blue whale” cutting on the arm of a person playing the online challenge game.(The Siberian Times)

Senior police officials said they have not found anything in the boy’s mobile phone and his parents are unware if any such thing could be related to their child’s death. However, the boy’s friends on certain WhatsApp groups chatted about his death being linked to the suicide challenge.

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What is the Blue Whale challenge?

The online suicide game, the Blue Whale challenge, is said to have originated in Russia

It starts with asking the participant to draw a blue whale on paper.

Participants are then asked to carve the whale onto their body, and given other tasks, like watching horror movies alone

The game demands players complete 50 tasks in 50 days, with the last task being to commit suicide

The term “Blue Whale” comes from the phenomenon of beached whales, which is linked to suicide.

Blue Whale challenge, which calls on participants via social media to complete a dangerous self-harm challenge over a period of 50 days, allegedly encourages them to win the game by committing suicide. The tasks range from harming self, watching scary movies to waking up at unusual hours, media reported. According to reports, teh dangerous game has killed more than 100 children in Russia and UK.

Read: China tightens surveillance of fast spreading ‘suicide game’ Blue Whale

The Meghwadi police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) and are probing further to find the reason behind the suicide. The police said the class 9 student lived in Sher-e-Punjab area of Andheri (East) and around 5pm, he went to his building’s terrace and jumped. A person standing near the building alerted the police.

Police will question his friends once his school reopens on Monday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 10) ND Reddy said they have recorded the statement of the eyewitness and filed an ADR.