An addiction to online gaming led a man to murder his mother so that he could claim her life insurance payout and settle his mountain of debt, police have said. The shocking incident has been reported in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur where the accused, Himanshu, allegedly killed his mother to claim a Rs 50 lakh insurance and then disposed off her body near the Yamuna river bank.
The accused, police have said, was addicted to gaming on popular platform Zupee. Such was the addiction that his repeated losses prompted him to borrow and keep playing. After a point, he realised he owed nearly Rs 4 lakh. The question now was how to pay back creditors. What followed was a ruthless plot.
Himanshu, police said, stole his paternal aunt’s jewellery and used the money to buy life insurance policies worth Rs 50 lakh each for his parents. Soon after, he allegedly choked his mother Prabha to death when his father was away, said police. He put the body in a jute bag and drove his tractor to the Yamuna river bank to dispose it.
Himanshu’s father Roshan Singh, who had gone to the Chitrakoot temple, did not find his wife and son at home when he returned. He asked around and then headed to his brother’s home in the same locality. No one knew where Prabha was. Then a neighbour mentioned that he had seen Himanshu on the tractor near the river.
Police were informed and the body recovered from near Yamuna. Himanshu was arrested soon after. His questioning revealed the shocking plot a son hatched to murder his mother so that he could clear his debt. “The son was on the run after murdering his mother. We caught him and unearthed the sinister crime,” senior police officer Vijay Shankar Mishra said.
Cheap and fast internet connectivity has given a big boost to online gaming. In many of these games, users can make money. The urge to make quick bucks on your phone turns into an addiction for money. Zupee, which is among the popular platforms for online gaming, warns users that they must play only for entertainment. “Don’t play to earn extra income. Don’t play impulsively. Don’t play with loaned money,” its ‘dos and don’ts’ list says.
