Debt following online gaming drives youth to end life

ONGOLE: A 19-year-old boy committed suicide on Sunday in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.

According to police, Lingala Krishna,19, owed Rs. 2 lakh to an online gaming company. Unable to bear the mental pressure, the boy hanged himself to death.

In fact, following pressure from the online gaming company, parents of the boy cleared a sum of Rs.1.60 lakh. The company representatives mounted pressure on the boy to clear the balance of Rs.40,000.

Unable to find a source to fund his debt, Krishna took to the extreme step.

While his parents were wailing inconsolably, locals demanded that the Government initiative action against be online gaming companies.

The police register a case and are investigating.

There have been multiple cases of online gaming companies luring youth into playing the games by throwing baits. Finally, when the subjects could not clear the debts, the companies were deploying collection agents to recover the loans. They were pressurising those who had fallen prey to the debt trap of online games, resulting in some weak minds end their lives.

Cases of people committing suicide unable to clear the debts raised through loan apps are also on the rise in both Telugu States.