In a horrific incident that raises questions about the impact of online games on developing minds, an 11-year-old boy in Lasudia locality of Indore allegedly killed a 10-year-old girl from the neighbourhood as she would repeatedly beat him in an online game, police have said.
The boy, who was very upset at the girl, a class 5 student, beating him multiple times in the online game called ‘Free Fire’, got further enraged by the suspicion that the girl had killed his pet white rat.
The accused minor, a class 6 student, who was arrested by the police within two hours of the crime occurring on Monday afternoon, has confessed to the crime, police said. Police have denied any sexual assault. The incident occurred near the IDA multi-scheme in Lasudia locality.
“The girl denied killing the rat and the accused boy decided to confront her. They got into a scuffle, threw stones at each other and when finally the girl was hit on the head and fell down, the boy killed her by repeatedly hitting her,” deputy inspector general (DIG) of Indore Harinarayan Chhari Mishra told The WEEK.
According to the police, the girl had left her home around noon to pluck some flowers and did not return. When a hunt was launched, the body of the girl with her head covered in stones was found in a vacant plot near her house. Her head had been crushed.
Based on CCTV footage and some statements of onlookers, the police zeroed in on the minor boy who had meanwhile shut himself inside the washroom of his home. “He remained locked inside the washroom for about 40 minutes and washed his clothes there while we were trying to take him out,” the DIG said, adding that they had to be very careful in dealing with the accused as he is of a tender age too and could have taken some unwarranted steps.
The officer said that the incident came to light around 2.00pm and the accused was caught by 4.00pm.
After talking to the boy it emerged that he, the victim girl and her nine-year-old younger brother would often play together. They would play the online game called ‘Free Fire’ and the girl would beat him always. Also, she would sometimes help her younger brother to beat the accused boy in the game. He got upset at this repeated beating and nursed a serious grudge against the girl.
Meanwhile, the pet white rat of the boy was found dead and he started suspecting the girl having killed it. He asked her multiple times, but she denied, the DIG said. The accused confronted the girl again on Monday afternoon, finding her alone.
Some relatives of the victim girl have said that they were told about involvement of another youth in the crime, but the police have denied that. Also, the family members have said that they are not convinced that the online game or killing of a rat could be a reason for the crime.
DIG Mishra has, meanwhile, cautioned the parents about online behavior of their children. “These are times of online classes, but children often get into online games and it is very important to monitor what kind of game they are playing and what impact such games might have on the tender minds. It has to be understood that those killed in a game can come back alive, but in real life such opportunity is not there,” the DIG said.