Playing the infamous online game ‘Blue Whale Challenge’, a 13-year-old boy on Thursday attempted to end his life by jumping off the third floor of his school here, but fellow students thwarted his attempt.
The incident took place at Chameli Devi school of the city here on Thursday morning when a student of Class VII while following instructions given to him in the online Blue Whale game attempted to jump off the third floor of his school building in his bid to complete the final task of the game.
However, before he could have taken the leap, timely arrival of school staff and his school mates there prevented him from completing the final task as he was pulled out from the terrace.
This is apparently the second incident of this type in the country after suicide by a boy in Mumbai while following instructions given to him in the online game.
According to Rajendra Nagar police, the incident took place when the boy was going towards his class after the morning assembly when he climbed atop the railing.
However, before he could have jumped off from the railing, physical training teacher of the school Sheikh Mohommad Farukh at the nick of time rushed towards him and pulled him away from the railing.
The boy was highly irritated when he was stopped from jumping, said Sheikh Farukh while talking to the newspaper. School principal Sangeeta Poddar said the boy was initially scarred but later on being goaded, showed his frustration that he could not complete the task of comittng suicide given to him while playing the online game.
In a bid to avoid the panic, the school later summoned the victim’s parents and apprised them of the child’s suspected mental illness. The boy was later taken home by them.
Rupesh Dwivedi, SHO of Rajendra Nagar police station said that the boy had downloaded the Blue Whale mobile game on his father’s mobile phone which he often used to play with. “We are looking into the matter and have instructed the school management to counsel the child and his parents,” Dwivedi told this newspaper, adding, the boy was promised a sum of Rs 2 crore on successful completion of the game.
Online games like the Blue Whale ask participants via social media to draw figures on a 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.