A 21-year-old woman, who left home to complete a task given to her in the Blue Whale Challenge game, was rescued by the police at the nick of the moment.
The woman, employed with the KYC section of a nationalised bank in Puducherry, left her home at 4.30 a.m. on Sunday and reached Gandhi Thidal on the Beach promenade. She was tracked down by the police after her friend gave a tip-off to a Sub-Inspector about her location. The woman was in an advanced stage of the game, police said, adding that she was handed over to her family.
A team led by Senior Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Apoorva Gupta went to the woman’s house and counselled her. They also spoke to her parents and instructed them to keep a close watch.
Director-General of Police S.K. Gautam told reporters that the woman, with injuries on her wrist, behaved abnormally after she began playing the game some days ago. Her friend who noticed the change in her behaviour alerted SI Keerthi at 10.30 p.m. on Saturday on his mobile. The SI shared his mobile number on various WhatsApp groups to be alerted about those engrossed in the game.
SI made enquiries
The SI contacted the woman and made discreet enquiries with her on Saturday night. He expressed his desire on contacting the person concerned and playing the online game. The woman initially refused to give details, but on insistence from the officer divulged details of some group and stages in the game. However, when Keerthi sought more information, she refused to part with it. The womanwas traced at Gandhi Thidal following a tip-off from her friend.
Mr. Gautam said, “The woman, who was adventure-seeking, had explored the game on various forums and spoke to a few Russians. Subsequently, she got in touch with her curator through Skype. However, she was not aware of the curator’s identity.”
The woman locked herself in a room. She was engrossed in the game and had made cuts on her wrist. She also went to the roof and sat on the edge at odd hours.
The police recovered a paper with the drawing of a blue whale and words in Russian, he said. She also had the task of inflicting 10 cut marks in three days written on a paper, which was recovered by the police. The SSP will be in constant touch with her over the phone, Mr. Gautam said.
When asked about the suicide of Sashi Bori, an MBA student from Pondicherry University, Mr. Gautam said investigations revealed that the victim had a break-up with his girlfriend. However, there were no injuries on his body, he added.