10-Year-Old Child Kills Self After Mother Takes Phone Away Over Online Game Addiction

A 10-year-old boy in India allegedly killed himself after his mother took his phone away over his online game addiction.

The incident took place in the northern city of Lucknow late Monday evening, media outlet Siasat reported, citing IANS.

After the parents informed the police, the officers arrived at the scene and launched an investigation.

According to the family, the boy had stopped going to school in the past few days and spent all his time playing online games on his phone. The family tried to stop him several times, but he did not listen, Aaj Tak reported [Google Translate showed].

On Monday, the boy's mother scolded him just like other days and also took away the phone. After that, the boy sent his sister out of the room and closed the door in anger. When the family asked him to open the door, he did not respond. The parents finally broke down the door after waiting for a while, and found him hanging.

"The mother has not given any statement till now. Further investigation is underway," senior police officer Aparna Rajat, said.

In June, a 15-year-old boy in India killed himself after being mocked over losing a PUBG game round. The teenager was spending his summer holidays with his father. The incident took place in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh's Machilipatnam city. Upon investigation, the police found the boy was playing PUBG with cousins on June 11 when they started teasing him. After his father told the teenager not to play the game, he got further upset. "Family members said the boy used to play games on the mobile phone most of the time and was depressed after making fun of him for losing the game. When his father knocked on the door on Sunday morning, he did not open [the door]. The family members broke open the door only to see the boy hanging from the fan," a senior police officer told the New Indian Express.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.