Demand in Rajya Sabha against online games like 'Blue Whale'

Illustration/Ravi Jadhav

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha members on Thursday demanded action against online games like 'Blue Whale', alleging that it was linked to suicide of a young boy in Maharashtra last week.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the House, Amar Shankar Sable (BJP) said Manpreet, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping from a building, was playing 'Blue Whale' game for 50 days. He said about 130 suicides linked to the game have taken place in America, Russia, England and Italy.

Sable said participants in the game are given instructions like 'watch horror movies', 'travel without ticket in train', and later they are asked to commit suicide. "Manpreet has become the first victim (of the game)," he said and demanded measures to ensure young people are not
affected due to the 'Blue Whale' game. He said the matter was also raised in the Maharashtra assembly.

His party colleague Vikas Mahatme said there are other games also which are very interactive and addictive. In agreement with the BJP members, Sanjay Seth of SP said there should be provisions to remove such games from website.

Manpreet, a class IX student, jumped off the fifth floor of the building in suburban Andheri last month. In his Zero Hour mention, Dilip Kumar Tirkey (BJD) said farmers in Odisha were facing problems in registration for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna due to technical problems in the portal.

AIADMK member Vijila Sathyananth said livelihood of beedi workers was being threatened due to 28 per cent GST on beedi.