Thiruvananthapuram: Killer games had been stalking the cyberdom for some time now, much before the Blue Whale Challenge, even when the Internet was still rare in Kerala, says S Sarojam, a Malayalam writer, who lost her son Aneesh Babu.
Aneesh committed suicide at the age of 27 under mysterious circumstances. Sarojam, a former deputy secretary to government, said her son killed himself after being trapped by some computer game. Aneesh made five futile attempts in the six months before succeeding in the sixth bid. And each time, he had been prompted by someone through the Internet who gave him directions, she said.
Aneesh was a computer geek from a very young age. Even though internet was not very popular then, he was familiar with all the secret alleys of the cyberspace.
Eventually, he ended up in the tangles of gaming. In just six months of becoming a gaming addict, Aneesh made six suicide attempts.
Whenever he failed, the game administrator used to give him suggestions to succeed next time, Sarojam recalls. The writer said she came to know about the changes the game brought in her son's life only after his fifth bid.
Aneesh had a shocking end. He suffocated himself by covering his head with a plastic bag and tying it tightly around the neck. He left no evidence behind on the role of the gory game in his death.
I thought of telling the real story behind his death then, says Sarojam. But later she decided not to as it would have served no purpose, other than giving publicity to the secretive game. Now, after going through all the reports on the macabre Blue Whale Challenge, Sarojam decided to open up.
The first victim of the suspected Blue Whale Challenge in Kerala was from Thiruvananthapuram and the mother of a 16-year-old told Manorama News that her son showed signs of addiction to the deadly game months in advance before hanging himself.
Closely after this, news of another victim surfaced from Kannur, once again proving that Kerala was no longer immune to the suicide challenge, lurking in the cyberspace, claiming numerous lives across the globe.
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