Police in Argentina are investigating the death of a 12-year-old girl who died last week after attempting the deadly "choking challenge" on TikTok. The victim's aunt, Laura Luque, said the tragedy involving her niece, Milagro Soto, occurred on January 13, in the city of Capitán Bermudez, Santa Fe Province.
"We are inconsolable [because] we gave her so much love," Luque said in a interview with Jam Press, the New York Post reported.
Soto was reportedly found dead inside her bedroom with a noose wrapped around her neck. The girl's body was transported to the Legal Medical Institute, where an autopsy determined Soto had died from mechanical asphyxia by hanging, according to the Argentinian newspaper El Litoral.
Soto was reportedly live-streaming the challenge with her classmates online before she died.
During the livestream, Soto allegedly participated in the "Blackout challenge," where she recorded herself holding her breath with an object tied around her neck until she fainted, the newspaper stated.
Soto had tried the challenge twice successfully before she died from the deadly stunt. "On the third occasion, she could not remove the rope from her neck," Luque said of her niece's death. She also claims Soto had received a WhatsApp message with a link to the challenge after she was bullied in school.
"I believe someone encouraged her to do it," the grieving aunt said. "She suffered a lot with bullying."
Luque said Soto was being bullied because of her long hair and appearance.
“She told us no one wanted her at school because she was pretty with blond hair," Luque recalled in the interview with Jam Press. The girl's aunt said she had “many doubts about everything that happened to her," adding, “she was a very smart girl.”
Soto was an elementary student at School 223 Tte. Gral. Pablo Ricchieri in the Santa Fe province in Argentina.
The school released a statement following the tragic incident and has offered support to the child's family. “We support our student’s family in this terrible moment,” a spokesperson for the elementary school said in a statement obtained by the NY Post. They also described Soto as a “great student, friend, sweet, good and kind.”
According to the NY Post, experts have warned about how dangerous the "Blackout Challenge" can be for those participating in the viral act, which can lead to fainting, brain damage, seizures, and death. There have been several incidents involving minors dying from the viral TikTok challenge in recent years.
In 2021, a lawsuit was filed against TikTok after two American girls died participating in the 'Blackout Challenge.'
The video-sharing platform is facing wrongful death lawsuits after the two minors lost their lives after engaging in the challenge.
“TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design and develop its product to encourage, enable and push content to teens and children that defendant knows to be problematic and highly detrimental to its minor users’ mental health,” the lawsuit reads, according to the NY Post.
The parents of a 9-year-old Jaileen Arroyo have filed a lawsuit against TikTok after the she was found hanging inside her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in February 2021, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Later the same year, 8-year-old Lalani Erika Walton, of Texas, was found dead hanging from her bed. Police said she was "under the belief that if she posted a video of herself doing the Blackout Challenge, then she would become famous." the Los Angeles Times reported.
TikTokers are encouraged to flag anyone participating in the viral challenge by clicking "report" in the app.
