Rourkela: An Engineering student became the first victim from Odisha after he committed suicide by jumping off a hospital’s sixth floor in Chennai following the directions of the dangerous Momo Challenge.
While the boy died August 22, police clarified that the youth took the extreme step following an online game Saturday.
The deceased has been identified as S Chetan Kumar (20), a resident of Rourkela who was pursuing engineering at a private college in Bhubaneswar.
Family members of the victim have demanded an inquiry into the involvement of the deadly online game in the death of their son. The police are investigating the role of the Momo game in the death of Chetan.
As per reports, Chetan, following the directions of the game, started off for Chennai August 20. He reached August 21 and was targeting to reach the seventh floor of Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Hospital building for completing the game.
However, over some reason, he could not get a chance to jump August 21. He stayed on the platform and went to the sixth floor of the hospital and jumped off August 22, at about 7:40 am.
Chetan’s brother S Hemant got a call from the Chennai police after which the family rushed to Chennai while he had succumbed to the injuries.
Police found a platform ticket from Chetan’s pocket and had seized his mobile phone and a laptop. Initial probe suggested that Chetan was into online games. He had gone to Chennai following the instructions of the game. However, police is yet to clarify if the death was due to Momo challenge or any other online game.
Only after a thorough investigation, the probing authorities would be able to ascertain the whole matter, police said adding that a further investigation was on.
With an image of a female with her eyes popping out, the Momo challenge has surpassed the number of deaths caused by the Blue Whale Challenge. While playing the Momo Challenge, players receive instructions from an unknown sender and are forced to follow.
The first victim of the treacherous online game was a 12-year-old girl who committed suicide in Argetina.