A Class VIII student on Saturday ended his life by hanging himself in Joda town of Odisha’s Keonjhar district after his parents admonished him for spending long hours on online games paying huge sums of money.  According to sources, the parents of the student had given him a mobile phone for online study purposes during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

However he spent most of his time playing an online game called ‘Free Fire’ with the mobile. Few days ago, he lost a total of Rs 96,000 including Rs 61,000 from his father’s account and Rs 35,000 from his mother’s account while playing the game.

When father Binod Apat made inquiry in the bank, the bank authorities told him that the amount was deducted from his account due to online games played on his mobile phone.

Enraged over his son’s act, Binod scolded him. Strongly reacting to it, the minor boy hanged himself to death inside a toilet.

The family members rescued the boy and rushed him to the nearby hospital, where he was declared dead.

“We had given him a mobile for study purposes, but he used it mostly for playing online games. In the process we lost around Rs 1 lakh from our account. We came to know about it from the bank and asked him about the matter. He got over reactive and ended his life,” said a crestfallen father Binod.

An unnatural death case was registered in this connection at the Joda Police Station.