A TikTok challenge went horribly wrong for a 12-year-old boy in Kota, Rajasthan, after he ended up hanging himself with a metal chain. The incident occurred late on Wednesday.
The boy's body was found hanging by a thick metal chain in his bathroom and he had bangles around his wrist. He was also wearing a mangalsutra (a gold chain worn by married Hindu women). All these were reportedly part of the rules of the TikTok challenge.
"He was wearing mangalsutra and bangles and was wearing a noose made from chains and was found hanging. He was using TikTok the entire night," the boy's father was quoted as saying by India Today.
"If it was not for TikTok then my child would have been alive," he added.
The boy accidentally killed himself on Wednesday and his parents discovered that he was missing on Thursday morning and found him dead in the bathroom. The boy was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.
The TikTok app has caused quite a few deaths in the country with many aspiring to make unique videos on the micro-video sharing app. The increased addiction to the China-based app had the Madras High Court calling for the app's ban.
Last week, a teenaged boy was shot dead with a country-made pistol in Shirdi while he and his relatives were trying to shoot a TikTok video.
TikTok released a statement saying that they do not endorse the 'TikTok Challenge' and added that there is no such thing.
The statement read, "This is a very concerning incident. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased. At TikTok, we are committed to maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment for our users, while encouraging them to showcase their creativity. In line with this, we would like to confirm that there is no such hashtag challenge or activity that TikTok is promoting on its app.
TikTok in no way endorses, promotes or encourages its users to engage in any behaviour that might cause harm to oneself or anyone else either via challenges or content published. We have a zero tolerance policy on content and behaviour that is against our Community Guidelines."
