Alexander a 22-year-old man from Puducherry rescued from the Blue Whale suicide challenge before he could get sucked in deeper.
On Tuesday Morning, Alexander was about to carve the Blue Whale into his arm when a police team barged into his home in Karaikal. “It is a virtual death trap. Even those who seek adventures will be mentally affected,” he warned, that he wanted everyone to know well enough to stay away from the game.
Alexander said he received a link to the Blue Whale game two weeks ago, on a WhatsApp group formed by his colleagues. He started playing the game when he came to his hometown on leave. Such was his addiction, that he never returned to Chennai to rejoin work.
“It is not an app or a game to be downloaded. It is just a link customised for individuals playing the game by the Blue Whale admin,” he said.
“The tasks given by the admin are to be completed only after 2 am every day. The first few days went into posting personal details and photographs, which were collected by the Blue Whale admin.”
A few days ago, Alexander was asked to visit a graveyard at midnight – one of the most well-known dares in the 50-step game. “I went to the Akkaraivattam graveyard around midnight, took a selfie and posted it online. Every day I had to watch horror movies alone, as the idea was to make victims shun fear,” he said.
“I avoided talking to people at home and remained confined to my room. It was mentally taxing. Though I wanted to get out of the game, I could not do so. Now I am “stable” after several counselling sessions,” said Alexander.
Fortunately for him, his brother Ajith noticed changes in his behaviour and went to the police, aware of the Blue Whale scare. A police team arrived at their home at 4 am, when Alexander was holding a knife and about to etch the image of a Blue Whale on his arm.
There has been a rash of Blue Whale cases in India in the past few weeks and at least five deaths have been linked to it.