In a tragic incident, an 11-year-old boy allegedly ended his life by jumping from a ten-storey building after playing a new online ‘suicide game’ similar to Blue Whale in Naples, Italy.
According to the details, the child jumped from the high-rise building around 1 am on Tuesday in Via Mergellina after leaving a chilling message for his parents that read: “I love you mum and dad. I have to follow the black man with the hood.”
Investigators have not ruled out speculation that the boy was making reference to ‘horror challenges’ linked to an online fictional character called Jonathan Galindo.
Galindo is a mysterious figure disguised as a humanoid dog in a dark hood who dares children to perform increasingly extreme and dangerous acts – culminating in their suicide, Mail Online reported.
The child was described as healthy, sporty, popular and from a middle-class family.
It is thought he could have been playing the new online ‘game’ that begins when players, usually children and teenagers, add Galindo on all social media channels.
The tasks start with fairly banal orders such as ‘wake up in the middle of the night’ or ‘watch a scary film’.
But the tasks gradually escalate as Galindo urges players to self-harm or put themselves in mortal danger like ‘stand on the ledge of a tower block’.
The final challenge is a demand that the user kill themselves.
It is pertinent to mention here that the face of Galindo was created by a makeup artist who is against suicide and has denounced the association between his art and the character.
Galindo has been compared to the Blue Whale Challenge which sets 50 tasks over 50 days before also urging users to kill themselves.
