'Blue whale challenge killed my son,' says Kerala mother days after teen's death

The 16-year-old was found hanging at his residence on July 26.

Mother of a teenager who committed suicide in Kerala has suspected Blue Whale Challenge to be a reason behind his death. Days after 16-year-old Manoj was found hanging at his residence, his mother has now claimed that her son may have been a victim of an online suicide game.

The Thiruvananthapuram police had registered a case of unnatural death after Manoj committed suicide last month. Following reports of online game Blue Whale Challenge and the impact it has been having on children, the deceased teen's mother has now claimed that the game could have pushed him to commit suicide. Speaking to a regional Malayalam newspaper, the teen's mother alleged that Manoj's behaviour had drastically changed since November and that he had spoken of a 'new game; that he had discovered.

"He told me that he had started playing an online game and there were three possibilities of how it could end. He would either kill himself or someone else or would lose his mind. I pleaded with him not to play the game and he assured me that he would not," the mother was quoted as saying.

She even claimed that Manoj who had never ventured out by himself had started going to cemeteries and the beach recently.

"In January he had carved three letters, ABI, on his hands using a compass. He asked me if I would be sad after his death and requested me to shower my love only on his sister," the mother told the newspaper. Her claims come at a time when Blue Whale Challenge is being reported upon extensively in India.

The police, however, maintained that the Blue Whale Challenge angle had not cropped up so far. They also noted that when the boy's body was sent for post mortem, no self-inflicted injury marks were found unlike in the cases of a death caused by a game that encourages self-mutation. The police claimed that the deceased teen was addicted to mobile and internet games and was a loner.

Manoj's computer and mobile phone will now be sent for forensic tests to verify the mother's claims. Meanwhile, the Union government has already asked social media platforms to shut down all links to online suicide games.

OneIndia News