The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday queried how ‘Free Fire’ game is accessible online despite a ban. The Ministry of Home Affairs in February imposed a ban of 54 Chinese mobile Apps including Free Fire.

It is worth noting that the Madras high court last year declined to entertain a plea that sought to ban all online and offline video games, observing that elected governments were the appropriate authority to take a policy decision on concerns around the addiction of children and young adults to these games.

The present case pertains to one A Ayarin Amutha of Nagercoil who in a petition filed before the court, stated that her daughter, Ithazh Selahni Wilson (19), a second year college student, went missing from the evening of September 6, 2022, after a domestic quarrel.

Even after lodging a complaint about her missing daughter, the Vadasery police did not conduct a proper search and gave evasive replies.

The Vadasery police just made a CSR entry and no FIR has so far been filed, Ayarin said in her petition.

The petitioner during her efforts to trace her daughter with the help of her friends and relatives through Instagram and other social media platforms, found out that her daughter, Selahni Wilson, was in frequent contact with D Jefrin of Savoriurpuram, Tsunami Colony, Kanniyakumari, through the online game, Free Fire.

Further, the petitioner also learnt that Jefrin, was a ganja user. The petitioner feared that Selahni might have been abducted by Jefrin and her daughter’s life might be under threat.

As the police did not take any serious action, Ayarin submitted a petition to the Kanniyakumari SP citing that her daughter, whose whereabouts is still unknown, might be under the custody of some anti-socials and sought immediate action to rescue her daughter.

The bench, after hearing the petition, said the government should enforce the ban more strictly on such online games, which are spoiling the lives of the younger generation.

The bench then questioned the Cyber Crime Police on measures taken against such activity and added that a detailed order would be made, before adjourning the case according to a report on DtNext.