A 19-year-old student from Guda village in Balasore district, Odisha, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself after losing over Rs 1 lakh playing online games.

According to a police statement, the youth was identified as Uday Kumar Behera, who was a Plus III 2nd-year student at AB College of Basudevpur. He was living in a hostel but came to visit his parents two days back.

Uday’s mother informed that he loved playing online games like PUBG/BGMI and Free Fire, among others, to which she objected several times. His family members also said that he was seemingly upset and depressed over his loss.

On Wednesday morning, the youth was found hanging in their house and was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. One of the family members, Sashikant Behera, said, “He was addicted to PUBG and Free Fire games. I lost my nephew due to online gaming. I request the government to take necessary steps so that no more life is lost.”

There is currently no information on where the youth actually lost money or if the suicide was due to online games. While Uday did love to play games like PUBG/BGMI, the reports suggest he ‘lost’ money which is usually termed in wagering.

Mental health issues are growing rapidly in this digital age in both kids and adults. Several reports of people losing money and going into depression have surfaced in the past.

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss in Tamil Nadu has suggested mental health counselling for people losing money on online games. This can help massively in preventing these individuals from taking harmful decisions.