Goa panel urges steps to keep youth away from ‘lethal’ Momo Challenge

The Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Thursday urged the state Education Department to initiate awareness programmes in order to prevent children from participating in the lethal "Momo Challenge," an online game.

The challenge, a social media phenomenon which has gone viral, urges users to perform a series of dangerous tasks, some of which involve causing physical harm to oneself.

"We would like to bring to your notice that there is an online dangerous game (Momo challenge) where children are attempting to commit suicide," Chairperson of the Commission Sushma Mandrekar-Chodankar said in a letter to the state Education Department.

While instances of violence directly linked to the game have not been reported across India, some stray instances including one recently in Odisha in which an individual caused self-harm by slashing his wrists after allegedly participating in the challenge have been reported to the authorities.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has already issued an advisory to all state governments vis-a-vis the social media challenge.