The psychic ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ game takes a life in Mumbai:
On 29th July 2017, Manpreet, a 14-year old boy jumped from the terrace of his seven storeyed building in Andheri, Mumbai, India, where he lived with his family. According to reports, two hours before he jumped, he sent a text message to a school friend with a picture of himself sitting on the edge of the terrace saying he was going to commit suicide. Investigations are on by the Mumbai police who are questioning Manpreet’s friends. It is believed that Manpreet was a victim of the psychic ‘Blue Whale Challenge’. (As per a ToI report)
This cyber game is said to have taken as many as 130 lives of youth around the world since its inception.
What is it all about – The Blue Whale Challenge
The Blue Whale Challenge is an online ‘game/challenge’. The Instructors or ‘administrators’ as they are referred to, are anonymous. Impressionable youth are psychologically manipulated online to carry out tasks that involve carving images on their bodies with sharp objects like knives etc., watching horror films which they suggest, cutting one’s veins and killing an animal. And finally being brainwashed into committing suicide. One of the main tasks involves carving a ‘Blue Whale’ with a sharp object on the person’s body and photographing it as proof. In fact, each task needs to be photographed or videotaped, so the administrators have proof of completion and authenticity, including the final suicide. The tasks must be completed over a period of 50 days.
Created by a 22-year old Russian youth, Philipp Budeikin in 2013 with an intention to rid the earth of weaklings. Budeikin says he was responsible for only 17 deaths that were directly influenced by him. The others victims, he said, called him up and committed suicide later. According to Budeiki, he gave the youth “warmth and understanding which they didn’t get in their lives”. Considering these youth as “biological waste”, he thought he was “cleansing our society of such people”.
Totally 130 suicides of this nature have been reported worldwide since the game started.
Budeikin was arrested and jailed last month. He claims that there are still 28 people ready to give their lives.
How to avoid your child becoming the next victim
“Parents must always look for any sudden changes in a child’s behaviour,” Dr. Sapna Zarwal, a Delhi-based child psychologist cautions, and adds that they must keep a tab on their offspring’s social media activities. “It is important for parents to monitor their children’s behavior and look out for warning signs — glaring or not,” Gorav Gupta, a psychiatrist in Delhi, says. (As per an Indian Express report)
