Maneka Gandhi has asked the government to remove the 'Blue Whale' game from social media (File)
Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has asked the government to remove the
'Blue Whale Challenge' game from social media after some children are suspected to have killed themselves influenced by the game.
"@Manekagandhibjp on Monday took up the matter with Home Minister @rajnathsingh and IT Minister @rsprasad and has requested that the challenge be removed from social media by suitable intervention," the Women and Child Development Ministry tweeted.
Ms Gandhi's letter said the game is believed to have persuaded some 100 children and young adults to kill themselves in the US, China and other countries.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also written to the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry thrice since May, asking it to catch those involved in spreading the game, a ministry spokesperson said.
The Blue Whale game is a 50-day challenge which demands that
players complete tasks given by an anonymous "handler". The "handler" instructs players to cause self-harm, leading to suicide.
Last week, the staff of a Dehradun school stopped a Class 5 student from killing himself, and Pune Police rescued a boy who was reportedly on his way to complete the challenge.
According to police, the friends of a 14-year-old boy, who jumped off the fifth floor of a building in Mumbai earlier this month, believe he was influenced by the game.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week asking the centre to ban the online game.