Indore: A 13-year-old boy allegedly ended his life by suicide out of fear, for being scolded by parents, after he lost money on the ‘Free Fire’ online game in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, police said on Friday.
The heart-wrenching incident occurred in Anurag Nagar under the jurisdiction of the MIG police station in the city on Thursday night. The deceased boy, who was studying in class 7, has been identified as Aaklan Jain.
He was reportedly addicted to playing online games.
According to police, Aalkan’s grandfather noticed him hanging from a ceiling fan, following which, he was rushed to a nearby hospital. However, he was declared brought dead.
Upon knowing about the incident, the police reached the hospital, and a post-mortem was conducted.
As part of the investigation, police also reached the deceased’s home and interrogated his parents and other family members on Friday.
During the investigation, parents said that Aalkan used to play the ‘Free Fire’ game, and he had lost Rs. 2,800.
The boy had connected his phone via Wi-Fi and had linked his mother’s debit card to his online gaming ID, MIG police station in-charge C.B. Singh told media persons on Friday.
Preliminary investigation revealed that after losing Rs. 2800 on ‘Free Fire’, Aalkan informed his mother, Apurva Jain, who scolded him.
The boy went to his study room and locked it from inside, and took this extreme step.
Further investigation in the case is underway, police said.
There have been several such incidents when children ended their lives by suicide due to addiction to online gaming. Ironically, after every incident, the state government would come up with an assurance that a new law would be passed to regulate the ‘digital gaming mess’.
In 2022, an 11-year-old boy, who was addicted to the ‘Free Fire’ online game, ended his life by suicide in Bhopal.
Following the incident, the then State’s Home Minister, Narottam Mishra, had announced that the government would bring a new legislation for online gaming.
(IANS)
