After a teen from Mumbai jumped to his death last week while completing the deadly Blue Whale challenge, the authorities have been on high alert. Now, another teen was allegedly 'playing' the challenge and almost committed suicide, was it not for his PT instructor.
The incident happened at a school in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The 13-year-old boy was poised to jump from the school building when some of his school mates spotted him. They rushed to pull him back, followed shortly by the PT teacher.
"Saw that the boy was attempting to jump from the third floor window while two other students were trying to hold him. We rushed to save him," Farooq, the PT teacher, told ANI.
Saw that from 3rd floor window a boy was trying to jump while two other students were trying to hold him, we rushed to save: Farooq,Teacher pic.twitter.com/8JU9VTKsJM
— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2017
Additional Superintendent of Police Rupesh Kumar Dwivedi said that according to preliminary investigation, the teen had been 'playing' the Blue Whale challenge on his father's phone for days, without his parents' knowledge.
He had also been been tense for the last couple of days and was contemplating suicide to complete the 50th task, reported PTI. The Blue Whale challenge comprises of 50 tasks which include self-harm, isolation and sleep deprivation for the child. The final task is to commit suicide by jumping from a building.
Officials were considering sending the boy for counselling.
Psychologists say it is important to understand that the teens who get involved with death and suicide 'games' such as the Blue Whale challenge are already going through depression, anxiety or some form of depressive episode. “A person in sound mental health will not resort to self-harm or seeking validation online,” Vandhana, a clinical psychologist had told TNM.
To know more about this, and how you can guard your child against being involved in such activities, read TNM's article on the Blue Whale challenge, and how you can help someone who's 'playing'.