THOOTHUKUDI: Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar appealed to school students not to play online games such as “free fire”, or be involved in online gambling. The SP’s statement comes after a father approached Pasuvanthanai police claiming his son studying in class 10 stole Rs 4,000 for playing online games.
The man last week took his 14-year-old son to Pasuvanthanai police inspector Chitrakala alleging that the minor boy had stolen money. “The boy had taken Rs 4,000 from his father’s pocket to recharge his online game account. I advised the boy not to steal again, and also told the father to extend more care towards the child,” Inspector Chitrakala told TNIE.
Similarly, a class 10 boy from Puthiyamputhur recently fled from his house after his parents found him stealing money for online games. Puthiyamputhur police registered a missing person case, and are yet to track him. Mother of another minor boy, who now spends most of his time playing online games, said, “He keeps asking me to recharge his game account. As schools were shut owing to the pandemic, children got addicted to these games. The State government should take steps to ban games that involve cash dealings.”
With more reports of school boys stealing money from parents to play games, surfacing, SP Jeyakumar issued a statement appealing to students to spend more time playing physical games. “Online games are addictive. You will lose money, and this addiction may even lead to suicide. Parents should also keep an eye on their children and check their exposure to online games,” he added.