Blue Whale Challenge Suspected to be Reason Behind Indian Student’s Death In US

It is suspected that a first-year Indian student took his own life in the US in March while playing the macabre online game of dares called the “Blue Whale Challenge”, which is also called the “suicide game”.

The 20-year-old, whose name has not been disclosed in the media as per his family’s wishes, was a first-year student at the University of Massachusetts. He was found dead on March 8.

Initially, his death was reported as a murder. His body was found in a car in a jungle.

Meanwhile, investigation suggests that he became victim of the “Blue Whale Challenge”, an online game in which participants are given dares to perform, which become increasingly more difficult over 50 levels. The student was holding his breath for two minutes, according to official sources.

The Indian government had wanted to ban this game years ago but settled for a more detailed advisory instead.

“Blue whale game (the suicide game) is abetment to suicide,” said the IT ministry in an advisory issued in 2017, a year after the emergence of the game.

According to reports, the game is played on social media platforms. It involves an administrator and a participant. The administrator assigns one task a day for a 50-day period. The tasks are innocuous enough in the beginning, but they are progressively harder with self-harm coming in the final stages.