Milagros Soto was only 12 years old and lived in Argentina: her father found her lifeless body at home, with a rope around her neck. According to the first reconstructions, the young woman would have participated in the “choking game”, also known as the “choking challenge”: a viral challenge on TikTok that encourages boys to get out of breath with a string around their necks. Milagros died of asphyxiation on live video, under the shocked eyes of her classmates.
The tragedy
The tragedy occurred on January 13 in the city of Capitán Bermudez, in the province of Santa Fe. Milagros Soto would have suffocated to death in an attempt to occlude her airways with a rope. At the time, she was in her home and was in the middle of a video call with her classmates. Her father found her hanging from a “noose”. Now the family cannot explain what happened. “We are inconsolable – said the young woman’s aunt, Laura Luque – because we gave her so much love”.
The family: ‘He was bullied’
It is not clear what led Milagros to such an act. The aunt said that the 12-year-old had received a WhatsApp message with the link to the challenge. According to her parents, the girl was a victim of bullying: “I think someone encouraged her to do it – said the family -, she just wanted to get the approval of her schoolmates”. “We have many doubts about everything that happened – added the aunt -. She was a very intelligent girl.’
Laura Luque explained to the Daily Mail that the young woman would have told her family “that nobody at school liked her, because they said she was pretty, because she was blonde and had blue eyes”. She «she was a happy, incredible person. An excellent niece and daughter she – he concluded -. Everyone here knew her as the girl who smiled with those big eyes of hers.’
What is “choking game”
Also known as the «blackout challenge», the «choking game» is one of the new dangerous challenges circulating on social networks and in particular on TikTok. The trust encourages the boys to take the air out with a noose around the neck, or a rope, until they pass out. The video of the challenge is then published on the social network.