The Madhya Pradesh government has filed a police report against Free Fire developers Garena, after a 13-year-old boy ended his life in the Chhatarpur district last week according to a report by NDTV. The boy was a student studying in Class VI, who in a note that was left behind stated that he had lost Rs 40,000 inside of Garena’s online battle royale game, Free Fire.
According to the report, the boy took his life over a monetary loss of around Rs 40,000 in Free Fire. A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed under section 305 of the Indian Penal Code, which is for the abetment of the suicide of a child, against Garena. The local police are also taking the help of the cyber cell to zero in on monetary transactions in the ongoing case.
In the note left by the child, he also said that he withdrew the Rs 40,000 from her mother’s UPI account and lost it in Free Fire.
While Free Fire is a free to play game, it does offer players multiple micro-transaction options to acquire skins, guns and other in-game items. Apart from this, there are multiple tournaments that require an entry fee to take part. As of now, it is not known where the child spent the money.
“A sad incident took place over the Free Fire game in Chhatarpur. An 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,” Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra told NDTV.
To recall, back in January a 12-year-old boy ended his life in Dhana, Sagar district after his father took away his mobile phone due to the child’s addiction to Free Fire.
