Thiruvananthapuram: Blue Whale, a deadly online game that has claimed several lives all over the world, had its first victim in Kerala last month. Manoj, 16, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, committed suicide on July 26 after completing the tasks of the fatal game.
The Kerala police have begun investigations into Manoj's death after his family raised doubts that it was due to the Blue Whale Challenge game.
The shocking revelation was made by his mother Anu. Manoj ended his life after deleting all the games from his mobile phone. His mother said Manoj once jumped into a river though he did not know how to swim.
Anu said Manoj had told her about the game and that he was playing it. She said she persuaded him to stop playing it, but he didn't.
Manoj had even asked Anu not to worry if he dies soon.
He visited cemeteries in the night and went to the beach alone. It is said that one of the tasks assigned to the players is to watch the horror videos sent to them by promoters of the game late night.
Manoj had downloaded the game nine months ago, Anu said. He had also drawn on his wrist with a compass. All these indicate that he had been playing the game, which involved tasks that led him into taking his own life.
He had even offered to donate his organs after his death. Manoj's relatives have handed over the mobile phone to the cybercell. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had recently requested the central government to ban the game.
The plus one student was found hanging in his home on 26 July. His parents said in their complaint to the police that Manoj had downloaded the macabre Blue Whale game nine months before his death. Though they had tried to dissuade him from it, they failed. Before committing suicide, the teenager had deleted the game from his phone. The cyber police team is examining the phone now.
On August 12, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had urged the Center to take immediate steps to ban the Blue Whale Challenge in the country "to save precious lives".
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