New Delhi:
A chilling suicide challenge on social media called the Blue Whale Suicide Challenge has created panic across the globe with fears that it is linked to hundreds of teen deaths around the world and has become a cause of concern for the parents, reports say.
Parents have been warned by the police in the UK about this terrifying Blue Whale suicide challenge after the online craze appeared to provoke teens into committing suicide.
There are fears that youngsters are being influenced to commit suicide through insane social media accounts. The suicide challenge reportedly originated in Russia where more than 100 suicide cases are linked to the game.
The parents are worried and are seeking help of the media to try to put a stop on this social media craze. In a Whatsapp message to Khaleej Times, a parent wrote: “Any parents out there or anyone that knows of any kids playing an online game called 'Blue Whale', please get your kids off this game. It sets them 50 challenges and the last one is to commit suicide.”
What is the Blue Whale online suicide game?
The Blue Whale is an online ‘suicide game’ where the participants are being asked to finish a set of daring challenges over a 50-day period and then they are being told to kill themselves.
According to reports, the game sets challenges initially such as watching horror films, cutting shapes into their skin and finally challenge them to commit suicide.
The users are asked to send photographic evidence back to the creators of the game to complete each challenge. They ask them to send the pictures as proof or they will send threats.
According to reports, the creators of the application-based game prey on vulnerable teens online. They then ask them to download the app and take the challenge. Once the user downloads the game on his/her phone, the phone gets hacked and the users cannot delete them. Hence, the hackers get access to all their details.
The online group which is associated with the Blue Whale is said to have thousands of members and subscribers on Facebook and YouTube.
The game has emerged in countries including Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Portugal, France and the UK. When did the Blue Whale come into notice?
The Blue Whale game first made news after a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Russia named Yulia Konstantinova posted the picture of a blue whale on Instagram shortly before jumping to death.
Blue Whale in the UK?
Essex Police informed a school in Basildon about the Blue Whale challenge and the teacher wrote to parents.
The letter, sent by Woodlands School in Basildon was seen by Essex Live and read: “We have discovered a game through the police that we feel you should be aware of. It is called The Blue Whale Game and is played via many social media platforms.”
However, no deaths in Britain have been linked to the game but police have posted warnings to parents online. Devon and Cornwall Police PCSO Kirsty Down tweeted: “Whoever created this horrible game is sick!
“Parents: Please be aware of this ‘game’ talk to your children about it if concerned.”
Teenage deaths linked to Blue Whale in Russia
Police are reportedly probing a number of suicides across Russia which they fear are linked to the Blue Whale Challenge. However, it has not been proved yet whether the Blue Whale game is directly responsible for any deaths.
Investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported: “We have counted 130 suicides of children that took place between November 2015 to April 2016.
“Almost all these children were members of the same internet groups and lived in good, happy families.” Two schoolgirls Yulia Konstantinova, 15, and Veronika Volkova, 16, fell from the roof of a 14-storey apartment block to their deaths.
Another unnamed 15-year-old girl was also critically injured after falling onto snowy ground from a fifth floor flat in the city of Krasnoyarsk, also Siberia.
Two days earlier, a 14-year-old girl from Chita was reported to have thrown herself under a commuter train. A 13-year-old boy was saved from killing himself after he was spotted perching on the edge of a roof in Lviv, Ukraine.
Yulia left a note saying “End” on her social media page after she posted a picture of a big blue whale. A family rushed to stop a 15-year-old girl from killing herself in Barcelona.
