BARIPADA: A 22-year-old youth of Mayurbhanj district was rescued while playing the Blue Whale Challenge on Saturday. He is Harish Behera, a resident of Markundi village under Barasahi police limits. Harish had cut his left hand with a blade to draw picture of a whale. A graduate in computer science, Harish had recently quit his job in Vedanta at Jharsuguda and returned home. He had downloaded the game on his mobile phone and played it till round seven. Harish, however, stopped playing the game recently. His family members came to know about the game after seeing the whale on his hand and admitted him to District Headquarters Hospital on Saturday. They said he was behaving abnormally and getting angry frequently which raised suspicion.
Treating doctor Narayan Behera said the youth appeared to be mentally unstable. He is under treatment now. This is the second such incident in the district. In the second week of this month, a 14-year-old boy was rescued from Bhanjpur area under Baripada Town police limits when he was trying to play the Blue Whale Challenge. He had downloaded it from a link that he received through an email. He is a Class X student of the government-run high school in the area.
The boy had used a blade to draw picture of a whale on his left hand. During classes, some of his friends saw the whale on his hand and questioned him about it. He admitted to have started playing the first round of the game. Later, his classmates informed his parents who admitted him to the District Headquarters Hospital.