11-Year-Old's Suicide Puts Spotlight On Online Gaming, Madhya Pradesh To Bring In Law
NDTV
Many parents, concerned after the news of a suicide, have also demanded that the government regulate online gaming.
The Madhya Pradesh government will soon enforce a law in the state for regulating online gaming for children. This comes after an 11-year-old boy from Bhopal died by suicide last week after spending money on online games without the knowledge of his family.
The proposed law includes declaring online gaming, gambling, and betting as crimes. Websites and applications hosting addictive games will be banned. There will also be a provision for a jail sentence and a fine for creating and operating online games that harm children.
11-year-old Suryant Ojha from Shankaracharya colony in Bhopal had last week died by suicide after he spent Rs 6,000 on online games without the knowledge of his parents, according to the police.
"It is a very serious issue. These suicides are connected to online gaming. To prevent such incidents, we are bringing in an Act to regulate gaming. The draft of the law is ready and we will soon finalise it," Dr Narrottam Mishra, Law Minister of the state, said.
