A teenager found cutting himself has claimed to have been playing the Blue Whale game in Gazipur’s Sreepur.
Rakib Hossain, 14, a student of Gazipur Meridian School in Kewa Pashchim Khanda village drew the suspicion of his teachers on Monday when he turned up with a bandage over his left arm.
Rakib, the son of Shamsul Haque, a farmer from Beraiderchala village, is a student of class five.
His teacher Abdullah Al Mamun said another teacher saw the bandage on the boy’s hands.
“I found him and asked him what had happened. He could not give me a satisfactory answer. Then I took him to the principal’s office and asked him again,” Mamun said.
Rumour spread quickly that a boy was caught playing the Blue Whale game.
“At the principal’s office, he started saying random things. At one point we just arranged to send him home,” the teacher added.
At his home, Rakib confessed to journalists that he was playing the Blue Whale game.
The cuts on his hand included a fish-shaped drawing and numerous short lateral cuts. Rakib also made a video of his self-mutilation.
“On Thursday night, when I turned the Internet on on my phone, I saw an app on my screen. I opened it and a call came to my phone,” Rakib said.
The boy could not remember the details of the call, but said it began with fun challenges.
“After I played for a while, it became more challenging,” he said.
However, Rakib could not say what exactly he did as part of these challenges in these three days.
“I cannot remember much but I remember I was told to draw a whale on my hand. I do not know how I cut my hand and drew the pictures,” he said.
“I cannot remember what I did at night, but the cuts on my hand burn a little,” he said.
Journalists asked to see what numbers he had been receiving calls from, but he appeared to have smashed his phones to bits.
Rakib’s mother Rahima Khatun said she was terrified about her son.
“We are keeping a close eye on him. I urge all of you to take action so that this killer game does not reach our children,” she said.
Sreepur Police Station’s Sub-Inspector Mahmudul Hasan Rana said: “I spoke to Rakib. Our understanding is that he is mentally unstable. He keeps saying meaningless things and his mother says he breaks things at home when he gets angry.” Dhaka tribune.