LUCKNOW: In yet another suspected Blue Whale challenge-related incident of suicide, a 14-year-old boy allegedly hanged himself at his home in Indira Nagar in Lucknow on Thusday night.
Aditya Vardan Singh, a Class VIII student was declared dead upon arrival at hospital, and his family members refused to opt for the post-mortem examination.
The police called it a mysterious death with the needle of suspicion pointing at the Blue Whale challenge. The probe to ascertain the actual cause of death is on.
The teachers and Aditya’s friends, who visited his distraught parents on Friday, denied the possibility of him being a victim of the online game as he was not so mobile-friendly. A native of Hardoi district, Aditya’s father Rupesh Kumar Singh is a farmer, and a Bachelor of Law.
The only child ofhis parents, Aditya was brought to his maternal grandparents’ place in Lucknow by his mother Aruna Singh a year ago for studies. Aruna’s father Uday Prakash Singh runs a publishing house in which Aruna works. Aditya was studying in a local missionary school.
According to family sources, Aditya was having his half yearly exams and had a paper on Friday as well. He was good at studies. “We had not given him any mobile phone so that his studies are not affected,” said Aditya’s maternal grandmother Sarala. However, she admitted that for the past few days, he had been using his mother’s phone for two to three hours everyday.
According to the family, after coming back from school on Thursday afternoon, Aditya took his mother’s mobile and went to the terrace. Later, he went into his room on the first floor. After over two hours, when Sarala called out Aditya, he did not respond. As she went to his room, she found him hanging from the ceiling fan. The boy was immediately brought down and was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival.