MP govt acts against online game firm 'Free Fire' after teen ends life on losing Rs 40,000
The Madhya Pradesh government has filed a police case against the developers of an online game after a 13-year-old boy killed himself in Chhatarpur district last week over monetary loss, state home minister Narottam Mishra said on Monday. The teen boy, a Class VI student who ended his life last Friday, had left behind a suicide note in which he stated that he was taking this extreme step after losing Rs 40,000 in an online game called 'Free Fire', police had said.
"A sad incident took place over the Free Fire game in Chhatarpur. A FIR has been registered against the company which developed this game.
Superintendents of police across the state have been directed to take action against the developers of such addictive games, which are disorientating the young generation and playing with their lives. We have sought the state Law department's opinion to initiate legal action against such companies," Mishra told reporters.
Rajesh Banjare, in charge of Civil Lines police station in Chhatarpur, said on Monday that an FIR under section 305 (abetment of suicide of child) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the company that developed 'Free Fire' and the help of the cyber cell was being taken to zero in on monetary transactions in the case.
The child who ended his life, in his suicide note, had sought forgiveness from his mother for withdrawing Rs 40,000 from her UPI account and losing it in 'Free Fire' sessions, police had said.
Incidentally, a 12-year-old boy had ended his life in Dhana in Sagar district in January after his father took away his mobile phone over the former's addiction to the 'Free Fire' game.
Free Fire is a shooter-survival game based on the 'last man standing' concept in which players have to search for weapons to eliminate other participants.
