Blue Whale Challenge Continues To Take Lives, Requires “Suitable Intervention”: Maneka Gandhi

Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi has asked for a ban on the online game called the Blue Whale Challenge. This game has already resulted in several teen deaths and continues to engulf several teenagers every day.

The Minister has reportedly written to the Union minister of Home and Information Technology asking for an immediate ban and “suitable intervention” regarding the removal of the game’s link from all social media channels. On Monday (14th August), Gandhi took up the matter with Home Minister, Rajnath Singh and IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights too had written to the Home Ministry asking for their immediate intervention and attention towards the Blue Whale Challenge.

Maneka Gandhi tweeted, “I urge parents and elders to monitor the activities of children and dissuade them from falling prey to such challenges.”

The Blue Whale Challenge has reportedly claimed the lives of over 100 youngsters.

Over the last two weeks, a 14-year-old boy in Mumbai committed suicide by jumping from a building. Another 15-year-old boy in Jalgaon was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his class. On Sunday (13th August), another boy was found dead in Midnapore.

A 13-year-old boy from Indore and a 14-year-old Pune boy were saved at the last minute while trying to commit suicide as the last stage of this challenge requires one to take his or her own life.

Philipp Budeikin, the reported curator of the Blue Whale Challenge game was arrested in 2016 and was found guilty of over 16 suicides.

The game claimed its first victim in 2015 and initially started on Russian social networking site, Vkontakte.