‘One kid thought he was a sniper, locked himself in terrace for 4 days’

Could an online battle game have influenced 13-year-old Dadar resident Tirthesh Chetan Khanolkar to take his life? This question has left the police, investigating his death, and several cyber experts, baffled. Khanolkar hanged himself at his home on February 13, covering one of his eyes, perhaps to look like a character from the online Garena Free Fire game. Cyber psychologists believe that with students spending hours on their smartphones due to virtual schooling post-pandemic, young children are increasingly getting addicted to online games, where the lines between reality and fiction are often blurred.

Garena Free Fire, also known as Free Fire, is a survival shooter mobile game. It was initially released in 2017. Each 10-minute game places you on a remote island, where you are pitted against 49 other players, all seeking survival. Players freely choose their starting point with their parachute, and aim to stay in the safe zone for as long as possible. The goal is to survive and answer the call of duty. It's ironic then that Khanolkar, who experts feel was influenced by the game, could have chosen death.

Tirthesh Khanolkar hanged himself on February 13

According to the police, it's still not clear why the teenager took the extreme step. Before hanging himself, Khanolkar had allegedly called his father on his mobile, but since he was on his bike, he missed the call. When he returned the call, his son didn't respond. Police and cyber psychologists believe that Khanolkar's last call may have been for help.

An investigating officer, anonymously said that during their probe they learnt that Khanolkar played the game on a daily basis. "He was on the 24th level of the game. The final grand master level doesn't involve suicide; [you have to only finish the enemy], but such games can have an impact. It can lead to a revenge kind of situation, which leads to real-life rivalry."

Fiction or reality?

A 14-year-old, who plays Free Fire regularly, on condition of anonymity, told mid-day that he started playing the game in 2019, after PUBG was banned in India. "Several players can play the game at the same time. The game opens with players jumping off an airplane; they can land in a place chosen by them with the help of their parachutes. After landing they get guns, clothes, cars, a helicopter, and other equipment to kill their enemy. Players can either play individually or in teams. The winner gets reward points." The teenager said that he used to play the game for two hours at a stretch. "You don't feel like you've accomplished anything until you've won."

A cyber psychologist said that in one of the case studies related to battle games, a child locked himself for four days on the terrace and started behaving like a sniper, which was the character in the game he was playing. "Because the child was so invested in the game, he had lost all sense of reality. He had to be taken for treatment to a hospital."

Nirali Bhatia

Dr Prashant Mali, cyber law and policy expert, has been making concerted efforts to ban or at least regulate games like Free Fire since August 2021. "I have been tweeting and writing letters to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It's been over six months, and I am still waiting for my demand to be fulfilled," he says, adding, "If a young boy uses a gun on his mobile phone to kill people, it is bound to affect his mind and behaviour."

From past incidents he has observed that in the absence of regulations to govern online games, players often expose themselves to unwanted situations. "[If the child is vulnerable] s/he starts associating themselves with fictional characters and incidents. It affects their day-to-day behaviour. Normally, parents don't track digital exposure and hence, such situations lead to suicide, violence and impact social life." He shares an incident that took place in Madhya Pradesh, in July 2021, where a 13-year-old student out of fear, hanged himself after he credited Rs 40,000 into his game account using his mother's credit card.

Reduce smartphone use

During the lockdown, most students were armed with separate smartphones to attend online classes. Cyber psychologists say that unfortunately, because of the way online marketing works, gaming advertisements, which pop-up while using learning applications on smartphones, tempt children to click on the link. Unaware of its consequences, children often download the games and start playing online with their peers. The gullible parents, cyber psychologists say, are under the impression that their children are studying online and "prefer not to disturb their online classes". "When you don't monitor the screen of your child's handset, you are putting them in a danger zone," added a cyber psychologist.

Requesting anonymity, many young gamers told mid-day that on the pretext of studying online with their friends, they play online games. "We hide the screen when our parents are around," one of them said. Cyber psychologist and digital parenting coach Nirali Bhatia said that it's advisable that "parents engage with their kids". "They should teach them about the good and bad side of gaming." "The new generation is being exposed to a high level of information, which is adding new and different dimensions to their thought process. If not channelised properly, it can cause havoc."