16-year-old spends Rs 10 lakh on buying virtual cash on PUBG, flees home after being scolded
Experts have pointed out that addiction to violent games like PUBG could result in children becoming more aggressive and increasing the level of anxiety and depression in them. In fact, the World Health Organisation has termed gaming addiction as a mental health disorder.
FollowA 16-year-old from Mumbai addicted to the online game PUBG invested Rs 10 lakh which he withdrew from his parent’s account.
After being reprimanded by his parents for wasting hard-earned money on the online game, the boy left his house in Mumbai's Jogeshwari residence leaving a note for his parents.
Worried, the parents approached the Mumbai Police who launched a massive manhunt for the boy.
Based on CCTV analysis and inputs, the cops managed to track the boy near the Mahakali Caves in Andheri East on Thursday. Â
The boy had reportedly withdrawn the money to buy virtual cash on PUBG. The Indian version of the game, Battleground Mobile India, was launched last month. The mobile game has had over 50 million downloads.Â
Right now, both the child and his parents are being given counselling.
To recall, PUBG was earlier banned by the Indian government over privacy concerns. At that point, PUBG Mobile India had over 180 million downloads. In India alone, the game had a user base of 33 million.
Cases of online game addiction have been emerging from across the country. A month ago, a 13-year-old boy committed suicide after his mother scolded him for spending Rs 40,000 on another online game called Free Fire.
Experts have pointed out that addiction to violent games like PUBG could result in children becoming more aggressive and increasing the level of anxiety and depression in them. In fact, the World Health Organisation has termed gaming addiction as a mental health disorder.Â
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