Youngsters now hooked to ‘Dare and Brave’

Mumbai: The Mumbai police is investigating a social networking site game called Dare and Brave, where two parties dare each other to perform an activity, and the loser has to send obscene pictures as penalty. The game came under the scanner recently when a 23-year-old was arrested from Gujarat for demanding obscene pictures from a minor girl.

The game is believed to have begun in the USA in 2016. It was trending in August, but the buzz surrounding it died after the Blue Whale game.

Dare and Brave, which  is played between a close-knit group of youngsters by invitation only, has recently hit Indian shores. It adds a devious new twist to the much popular game of Truth and Dare. This version only includes the dare part of the original.

Two players challenge each other to a ‘Dare,’ with the loser having to do whatever the winner demands. The demands mostly include an exchange of pornographic pictures and videos.

Recently, a 23-year-old computer graphics student was arrested for exchanging pornographic pictures and videos with a minor. He was booked under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology (IT) Act.

Deputy commissioner of police, zone 10, Navinchandra Reddy, said, “The accused has been arrested and we have sought details of the game. We have also roped in the cyber police for assistance.”

Another police official said, “More details will emerge once all players are identified and data is accessed.”

Cyber expert Haren Das said, “These games cater to different age groups. Teenagers are often a soft target, as they ‘are game’ for new experiences and are dragged into the dark side of such games. The one thing that parents can do is to restrict the use of devices and keep a close eye on their Internet activities.”