Macabre ‘Blue Whale’ Game Ends With Murder Of Englishman In Portuguese Town Of Pedrógão Grande

A 35-year-old Englishman was found dead in a remote forested area in the Pedrógão Grande region of Portugal on Sunday, September 24.

His body, displaying signs of having been stabbed, was discovered after a group of his friends – also British nationals – went to the GNR station in the Leiria municipality of Figueiró dos Vinhos to report the incident.

In the presence of police officers, a 26-year-old admitted to being the one who carried out the attack. He reportedly justified the killing by claiming that it occurred during one of the ‘challenges’ they had been taking part in as part of ‘Blue Whale’, the macabre online ‘game’.

The group subsequently notified the authorities of the body’s location. They explained that prior to the accident the group had attended a private party held by the English community in the town of Pedrógão Grande, reported zap.aeiou.pt.

Before heading off to the isolated place where the crime occurred, the group had stayed overnight with other residents of the town.

After admitting what had happened, the victim’s friends – believed to be at least three boys and two girls – spent the day at the Pedrógão Grande GNR station being interrogated by detectives. It has not been confirmed whether the suspects will have to appear in court.

The ‘game’ originated in Russia

In 2016, a 21-year-old former psychology student named Philipp Budeikin – who had been expelled from his university – claimed to have invented the game in Russia back in 2013.

Its purpose was to ‘clean society of biological wastes’ he said at the time. His intention was to ‘clean’ society from individuals who were deemed as having no value and considered as burdens.

Despite initially claiming his innocence and saying he was ‘just having fun’, Budeikin was eventually arrested and held in St. Petersburg’s Kresty Prison.

He pled guilty in May 2106 to ‘inciting at least 16 teenage girls to commit suicide’. Budeikin was later convicted on two counts of inciting the suicide of an underaged person.

‘Blue Whale’

The ‘game’ consists of a series of 50 daily challenges sent to the participant by an ‘administrator’. Following the rules of the game basically encourages young people to self-harm and commit suicide.

Some of the tasks involved can include watching horror films, climbing onto roofs, or instructions like ‘cut your arm with a blade’, or ‘stick your hand with a needle’.

Proof that the participant has completed the task must then be sent to the ‘admin’, in the form of a photo or a video. As a final test, the player faces a suicide challenge.

A Portuguese girl suffered injuries after playing the game in 2017

In 2017, the gruesome game officially arrived in Portugal. An 18-year-old girl was found with several injuries next to the railway line in the coastal resort of Albufeira on the Algarve.

Linguistic affinity with the game’s origins in Brazil means that many young Portuguese people have already come into contact with the game.

Blue Whale has already claimed several victims around the world. Brazilian authorities have already investigated dozens of cases in which teenagers ended their lives at the behest of game administrators.

These ‘admins’ have also been known to send films and music that young people have to listen to. The victims are almost always fragile young people who are threatened if they abandon the game.