India's recent ban of the highly popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile has caused its first casualty after a college student committed suicide for not being able to play the video game.

India Today reported that Pritam Halder, 21, an industrial training student, hung himself at his home in West Bengal's Nadia district last week after he was apparently frustrated with the game's ban.

According to Pritam's mother Ratna, the youth locked himself inside his room after having breakfast last Friday, and repeated knocks on his door during lunch hour went unanswered. The woman later called neighbours to break down the door, only to find her son hanging from the ceiling fan.

For the uninitiated, PUBG is an online multiplayer battle royale game where up to one hundred participants slug it out by killing others and avoid getting themseles killed, until only one last player or team is left standing at the end of a round.

The game has reportedly provided much needed distraction for India's youngsters during the country's COVID-19 lockdown.

Besides, some Indian players also spend thousands of rupees to buy special passes to earn quick rewards and have access to special mission in the game.

The Indian government, however, banned the game last Wednesday, due its Chinese links, citing threat to country's security and sovereignty.

#PUBG has became a trending topic on Twitter in India since, with many appealing against the ban.

The ban is India's last move against Chinese companies in India amid a months-long standoff over a disputed border in the Himalayas.

In June, India banned yet another popular app among Indians - the video-sharing app TikTok, along with other apps like UC Browser, and chatting app WeChat, among others.


Source: India Today
Photo source: businesstoday.in