Blue Whale Challenge: 17-year-old boy hangs self in Panchkula

Chandigarh, Sep 25: In another case suspected to be linked to the notorious online game Blue Whale Challenge, a 17-year-old boy hanged himself to death on Friday at his sector 4 residence in Haryana's Panchkula district.

The body of the teenager, who studied at a Chandigarh school, was found hanging from the ceiling at his home on Saturday, Panchkula DCP Manbir Singh said over the phone.

According to his mother, he told her a few days ago that he was getting addicted to a game and she should take him to a psychiatrist.

"While necessary investigations were being conducted into the matter, the parents of the boy today informed us that they found some diagrams and notes scribbled in the boy's diary, which raised suspicion that he could have been playing the Blue Whale Challenge," Singh said. "At this point, we suspect that the boy could have been a victim of the killer online game. However, no whale image was found on the boy's forearm," the DCP said.

The Blue Whale Challenge originated in Russia. It starts by asking participants via social media to draw a blue whale on a piece of paper. The participants are then asked to carve the shape of a whale onto their body. They are given other "challenges" or "tasks" such as watching horror movies alone.

These challenges or dares feature the commission of acts harming oneself. The last stage is suicide. When asked if the boy was alone at home when he took the extreme step, the DGM added, "We are verifying several facts and these are part of the investigations.

PTI