Blue whale challenge: Is Mumbai boy India's first suicide game victim?

Teens are given 49 tasks to complete for 50 days that eventually demands to jump off of a building

Is a deadly game on the internet, namely ‘The Blue Whale Game’ responsible for the alleged suicide of 14-year-old Manpreet Singh? Media reports suggest that the teenager, who jumped off the terrace of a seven-storey building on Saturday in Andheri, a suburb of Mumbai, is touted as India’s first victim of the suicide game. 

The term— blue whale — comes from the phenomenon of beached whales, which is linked to suicide.

What is this odd game?

In this challenge, teens are given 49 intense tasks to complete for 50 days that leads to self-harm and eventually culminates in suicide by jumping off of a building. Teens challenge each other to play via social media and players are assigned game administrators who elicit their personal information that may later be used against them. The tasks include self-harming, watching horror movies and waking up at unusual hours, but these gradually get more extreme.

Players are required to upload photos of the completed tasks, and if they refuse, game administrators may threaten to harm family members or come and do the task for them. Therefore, once who begin the game, it becomes near-to-impossible to back out. 

What happened to this 14-year-old boy?

Mumbai Police, after gathering information from Manpreet’s WhatsApp chats, say that he was apparently addicted to the Blue Whale challenge. However, his parents claim that he did not show any signs of depression. The cops have filed an Accidental Death Report (ADR).

With the completion of every task, players are also asked to inflict cuts on their forearms that eventually form the shape of a blue whale. The organisers of this ghastly game prompt the players to win the challenge by killing themselves. 

"I learnt that Manpreet told his friends that he would not be in school on Monday as he was playing the game," reported Mid Day quoting his neighbour Sunny Valia.

Origin of the game

While unconfirmed, this Russian-originated game has reportedly been responsible for 130 suicide deaths. 

Blue Whale has also been known as A Silent House, A Sea of Whales, F57 or F-57 and is mostly played on Instagram and Snapchat. 

While Instagram warns users searching ‘Blue Whale’ that the content may be graphic and offers users resources for self-harm or suicide, they do still allow users to view the content. However, social media sites are working to take preventative measures.