Worst fears around Sarahah just got confirmed. When the Middle Eastern Sarahah app began to spread its wings over the Indian social media users, many raised the questions of the harm its anonymity aspect could bring. But the netizens took it up like a ‘do before you die’ experience, and have landed where it was most feared. Unfortunately, app is showing a shade of ‘blue’ that was up until now attributed to the Blue Whale challenge. Now, a recent report of a suicide attempt being attributed to the app.
A ToI report has revealed about a young girl from Mangaluru who reportedly began to contemplate taking her life after receiving abusive messages on Sarahah. She posted an update to her Facebook account, saying she was thinking of committing suicide as a result of these messages.

Just about a few hours of the girl sharing the post, it went viral, with some people trying to share the adverse effect of the Sarahah trend. The screenshot of the post was reportedly also sent to the Rachakonda police’s Facebook account. Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat realized it was a serious matter and contacted his counterparts in Mangaluru. 
Mangaluru city police located the girl and counselled her, ToI reports. “We learnt that comments made anonymously on Sarahah had affected her so much that she slipped into severe depression,” Hanumantharaya, DCP (law and order), Mangaluru city police told the publication. 
Developed by Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq, the app was released in June this year, and shot to a quick fame in India last month. The Sarahah app is essentially a platform for exchanging messages, which keeps the identity of the sender a secret. So, if you were to send someone a message, you could choose your recipient, but that person would never come to know who the message came from.
“Sarahah helps you in discovering your strengths and areas for improvement by receiving honest feedback from your employees and your friends in a private manner,” Sarahah’s website explains its service. Sarahah calls it the honest website, and the participant on the app as the “honest people”. How ironic!