PUBG addiction was not what caused death of 20-year-old Telangana boy, says doctor

tech2 News StaffMar 25, 2019 17:30:45 IST

Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect that the news originally reported was proven false.

Popular gaming title PUBG Mobile has been under a lot of fire lately for becoming increasingly addictive to children as well as teenagers. While a number of cities in Gujarat have banned the game, police authorities have even gone ahead and arrested people for openly playing the game on the streets.

However, it was the news of a 20-year-old Hyderabad boy, dying due to addition to PUBG Mobile, that led to mass protests across WhatsApp groups and social media forums in the country. Well, this bit of news now appears to have been proven false.

An anesthesiologist at Bristlecone Hospitals, Barkatpura, Dr Raj Kiran who treated the boy confirmed that the unfortunate demise had no connection with PUBG Mobile or any other game for that matter.

“He was suffering from a serious infection and was undergoing treatment," said the doctor talking to the Times of India.

"In fact, reports suggesting that he suffered paralysis are also false," she added.

The 20-year-old’s roommate, Harish Palkurthi, also confirmed that the viral 15-second video that led people to believe that it was indeed addiction to PUBG that claimed the boy's life, was shot by his college friends.

“They were just trying to make him laugh and relieve some of his pain. Sadly, it went viral and now everyone thinks he died because of playing PUBG. That’s not true,” Palkurthi said.

PUBG ban.

As per a report by thehansindia, it would appear that A 20-year-old youngster hailing from Jagitial died while playing PUBG. The report says that the boy had been constantly playing the game for the last 45 days and had suffered serious neck pain. The boy was taken to a hospital in Hyderabad where he succumbed. There is no further proof of this story as of now.

In more recent news two young men who were apparently engrossed in playing online game PUBG died after they were mowed down by a train in Maharashtra's Hingoli, police said on 17 March.

The incident happened yesterday evening at a bypass in Hingoli. Police said Nagesh Gore (24) and Swapnil Annapurne (22) were playing PUBG near the railway tracks. They were run over by the Hyderabad-Ajmer train.