A police investigation into the suicide of a 19-year-old college student in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district has revealed that he had played the deadly Blue Whale internet game for 50 days, according to media reports. It is the first case of its kind to be reported in the state.
The second-year college student was found hanging at his home on Wednesday afternoon, IANS reported. He had a picture of a blue whale drawn on his hand, said police, who found a note in the residence reading: “Blue whale is not a game but danger and once entered you can never exit.”
The teen’s mother reportedly said that she became aware that her son was playing the game two or three days ago, adding that about 75 children were in the game chain along with her son.
Madurai Superintendent of Police N Manivannan said, “We are searching [his] cell phone and will try and detect the other members in the group as mentioned by his mother. The players will try and etch a whale picture on their arm and this is the sure shot indication of impending danger to the life of the teenagers.”
In a separate incident, a 17-year old Assam boy with a similar picture of a blue whale drawn on his hand was admitted to a hospital in Guwahati after he exhibited “abnormal behaviour.” ANI reported that the boy was being kept under close observation by a team of doctors and psychiatrists.