16-yr-old kills mother for scolding him over PUBG

HT Correspondent

LUCKNOW: A 16-year-old boy allegedly shot dead his mother for scolding him for playing the online game PUBG and kept the body at their Lucknow home for two days, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

The boy allegedly threatened and locked up his younger sister to ensure she does not inform anyone. The incident, which took place on Saturday night, to light only on Tuesday night when the boy’s father, an army official posted in West Bengal’s Asansol, informed the police that an unknown assailant killed his wife and held captive their two children, said SM Qasim Abidi, additional deputy police commissioner.

“The boy initially tried to mislead the investigators by claiming that an electrician killed his mother before confessing to having shot her dead with his father’s licensed revolver,” Abidi said, adding that the minor sprayed room freshener as the body started decomposing.

The boy, who was addicted to the online game, was enraged after his mother asked him to stop playing and shot her, he said. “On Tuesday evening when the smell of the body became severe, he informed his father. The father called the neighbours and they informed police,” he said.the boy was taken into custody on Wednesday and will be produced before the juvenile juscame tice board, Abidi said, adding the body was sent for post-mortem.

Police have recovered the weapon, he said.

“Online gaming is an established addiction. Its impact is equal to that of a strong substance abuse. When a child is exposed to violent online game for hours every day, the brain fails to differentiate between real and imaginary,” said Dr Adarsh Tripathi, additional professor, department of psychiatry, King George’s Medical University.