Black panther is free now: Man allegedly kills himself in online game task

A 20-year-old man allegedly hanged himself in Pune in Maharashtra while trying to complete a task in a Blue Whale-like online game, police said on Friday. An official identified a 20 year second year student Diwakar Mali of Lonikhand city and studying in BJS College and spent hours on the smartphone, a fact confirmed by his family members.


Before hanging himself, the man left a note which said ‘the black panther which was in the cage is free now and he is no longer in any kind of restrictions’.“Before hanging himself on Wednesday evening, he left a note which said ‘the black panther which was in the cage is free now and he is no longer in any kind of restrictions. The End’,” the official informed.


The official said the message was possibly alluding to his task in the online game, with Mali referring to himself as “black panther”,with a handwritten note, in Marathi and English, has a drawing of a black panther along with a line reading "sun will shine again", he added."According to family members and neighbours, Mali was addicted to a Blue Whale-like online game. It is suspected he ended his life while completing some kind of task," said the Lonikand police station official.


Police inspector D S Hake of Lonikand police station said that the family came to know about the incident after he did not respond to their calls.The 'Blue Whale Challenge' is an online game in which players are asked to complete tasks in a set time frame, several of which include self-harm and even suicide. The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases has termed 'gaming disorder' as a pattern of gaming behaviour (digital-gaming or video-gaming) characterised by impaired control and increasing priority given to 
gaming over other activities.


“We have recovered the mobile, but it is locked as the deceased used his thumb impression to gain access. Our investigations reveal that the boy died while playing the Blue Whale game ,” Hake said. Mali's mother, confirming his mobile phone addiction, said, "I appeal to all parents to put restrictions on their children's phone usage. I lost my son but parents should pay attention to their children," she said.