Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 10-05-2017
The man behind an online game called Blue Whale that provokes children to commit suicide has stated that he is “cleansing society”.
While not available in South Africa at this time, the game has made international headlines in recent days, and has a number of local organisations, including the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) concerned.
The lethal game invented by Philipp Budeikin involves brainwashing vulnerable teenagers over a period of 50 days, urging them to complete tasks from watching horror movies to waking up at strange hours, and self harming.
Eventually exhausted and confused, they are told to commit suicide, and it is feared in Russia that dozens have done so at the bidding of Budeikin or other ‘mentors’.
Budeikin, from Russia, is being held on charges of inciting at least 130 schoolgirls to kill themselves after they took part in his ‘game’.
The 21-year-old has apparently confessed to his crimes, telling police he sees his victims as “biological waste” and that he was “cleansing society” of the girls, who he claims were “happy to die”.
“They were dying happy. I was giving them what they didn’t have in real life: warmth, understanding, connections…There are people – and there is biological waste. Those who do not represent any value for society. I was cleaning our society of such people.”
Cathy Chambers from SADAG told Radio Islam that they are saddened by the Blue Whale game and that analysts are predicting that it will be in South Africa within a month.
She says SADAG is monitoring the situation to see if any cases are reported in South Africa, parents should be aware of what their children download.
“I think it’s very concerning that there is such a game encouraging people to take their own lives or even to hurt themselves. We know there are a lot of other games out there on websites encouraging people for suicide and for self harms and this is why its so important that parents take this kind of thing seriously and learn the warning signs and the symptoms now to prevent it from happening.”
Russian prison authorities say they have received dozens of love letters from teenage girls for the suspect at notorious Kresty jail in St Petersburg, which they passed on to him since he was held in November pending a trial.
Listen to The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG)’s Cathy Chambers speak to Radio Islam about the Blue Whale game.
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