An Uttar Pradesh teen recently killed his mother for stopping him from playing PUBG. This, however, is not the first time that the multiplayer game PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) has led to violent crimes and death.
The infamous online game PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) is back in the news for all the wrong reasons. The popular game has once again become the reason for a violent crime, this time in Uttar Pradesh where a young boy has killed his mother because she scolded him from playing the online game.
The incident occurred in Lucknow when a 16-year-old boy stole his father's pistol and fatally shot his mother who had tried to stop him from playing PUBG, media reports said. The boy then stowed away the body in his house for two days and tried to cover the stench with a room freshener. According to reports, he even threatened his nine-year-old sister to not reveal the crime.
While the cold-hearted murder has shocked the nation, this sadly is not the first time that the game has led to violent crimes and death. The game, created by TenCent, has long been in news for its supposedly dark and often fatal impact on players. In fact, it is even banned in some countries such as Pakistan for its potential to lead to crimes.
Earlier in January, a 14-year-old boy shot dead his entire family, including mother and two minor sisters, allegedly "under the influence" of online game PUBG in Pakistan. Nahid Mubarak, a 45-year-old health worker, was found dead along with her 22-year-old son Taimur and two daughters aged 17 and 11 in Lahore's Kahna area last week. Her teenage son who remained unhurt and is the lone survivor of the family turned out to be the murderer, police said in a statement.
“The PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) addict boy confessed to have killed her mother and siblings under the influence of the game. He has developed some psychological issues because of spending long hours of the day playing the online game,” the statement said.
In March this year, three young friends including a 19-year-old boy and two minors, killed their 20-year-old friend Sahil Jadhav in Thane, Maharashtra following a quarrel over PUBG. The friends had been known to get into heated quarrels over the multiplayer game. On the fatal day, the argument went out of hand and the three youth stabbed Sahil multiple times, leaving him dead on the spot.
In April last year, a 12-year-old boy named Akeef was found dead in Managaluru. According to reports, the killer was his friend with whom he often played PUBG. The two boys had met at a local mobile store and bonded over PUBG. They used to play against each other but when Akeef started winning the games, the other boy suspected that someone else was playing on behalf of Akeef. He challenged Akeef to play in front of him and when the latter lost, he accused him of cheating. An argument broke out following which the boys attacked each other with stones. One of the stones hit Akeef and he collapsed. The accused reportedly covered the dead body in dry leaves and left him there until the crime was discovered.
A 13-year-old boy from Uttarakhand killed his 13-year-old neighbour over a dispute that broke out over the online game. The incident occurred in June last year. The accused attacked the victim with a sharp glass object, leading to fatal injuries.
In November 2020, a minor shocked Rajasthan by killing his friend who had refused to give him his phone to play PUBG. The accused, 13, killed the victim who was 17, with a stone. The duo lived in the state's Rajsamand district.
Three men in Jammu were arrested in September 2020 for allegedly killing a man who had asked them to not make noise while they were playing PUBG. The accused, Raj Kumar, Bikram Jeet and Rohit Kumar, were asked by Daleep Raj to not make too much noise when playing the game. This led to an altercation between the three and Raj, who seemingly distracted them from their gaming session. Later in the day, Raj was attacked by the trio with a log of wood in light of the previous altercation. Raj succumbed to subsequent injuries as a result of the attack, and died on the spot.
Irked over his father allegedly restricting him from playing mobile game 'PUBG’, a 21-year-old Karnataka man from Belagavi beheaded the latter in cold blood with a sickle. The accused also reportedly sliced his father's hand and leg. The incident occurred in September 2019. According to reports, the boy had been failing his examinations due to his gaming addiction and additional substance abuse problems, which had been a source of discontent between him and his parents.
Not just crimes, PUBG has led to other kinds of natural deaths as well. These include deaths by suicide, self harm or distraction caused due to PUBG.
In August 2020, a 16-year-old boy from Andhra Pradesh died after reportedly playing PUBG non-stop for days without even eating or drinking water. According to reports, the boy who had been skipping meals for several days, fell ill with severe dehydration and was rushed to the hospital. However despite treatment and surgery, the boy could not make it.
In 2019, two PUBG addicts from Maharashtra's Hingloi district were run over by a train while they were playing PUBG. As per reports, the two players had been playing by train tracks and got so distracted by the game that they did not notice the approaching train. The duo died on the spot.
In August 2020, two young men reportedly killed themselves by consuming poison while playing PUBG non-stop for hours in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. While the cause of the suicide remained unclear in the absence of any suicide notes, police suspected a suicide pact to be the cause. In February 2019, an 18-year-old boy named Nadeem Sheikh from Mumbai killed himself after his parents denied buying him an expensive phone to play PUBG. In a similar incident, a 17-year-old boy from Jind, Haryana, killed himself after his mother took away his phone to prevent him from playing PUBG.