Deinze
The Deinze police warns against the ‘choking challenge’, a choking game that young people challenge each other to on social media. A 15-year-old student recently ended up in intensive care for several days.
Two 15-year-old boys are said to have played the strangling game on January 26 at the Leiepoort Campus Sint-Hendrik secondary school in Deinze. On Tiktok, among other places, young people challenge each other: someone has to strangle another person until they knock.
“In this case things did not end well: the strangled young person was unable to knock on the door in time and lost consciousness. The other youth was shocked. He let go of the strangled person, who fell to the ground,” police said.
The boy hit the back of his head on the ground. He had to be taken to hospital, where he spent several days in intensive care.
The victim’s father filed a complaint on February 1. “We are not assuming any foul play for the time being,” says the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office. No action would have been taken against the boy who strangled his classmate. The victim was now allowed to leave the hospital.
The fact that the ‘choking challenge’ is a dangerous game became apparent in January 2023. A 12-year-old girl from Argentina died after she accepted the challenge.
