Denied new mobile to play PUBG, Mumbai teenager hangs himself: Cops

An 18-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself after he had an argument with his family members over buying a new mobile phone for playing PUBG game.

The teenager, who was a resident of Kurla’s Nehru Nagar area of Mumbai, took the extreme step when he demanded that he wanted a high-end smartphone costing around Rs. 37,000 to play the online game.

However, the youth’s family refused to pay heed to his demand and argued that the boy will not be given a mobile phone, not more than ₹20,000, police said.

Feeling distraught, the teenager then took a rope and allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in the kitchen of his residence.

A case of accidental death has been registered by the police and further investigation in the matter is underway.

PUBG or ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ is an online multiplayer game where about 100 players fight it out in free for all combat where the sole survivor emerges victorious.

There have been calls to ban the game as it is “addictive” and has been linked to poor results of students in exams.

Recently, an 11-year-old student filed a plea through his mother requesting the Mumbai High Court to ban PUBG as it “promotes violence, aggression and cyber-bullying”.

Also read | From attraction to obsession: Children’s relationship with PUBG and other online gaming

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)