Addicted to online gaming, Indian man kills mother to claim life insurance money

A man from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for murdering his 50-year-old mother so that he could claim life insurance money to pay off debts accumulated due to his online gaming addiction.

The shocking incident has come to light from the city of Fatehpur where the accused, identified as Himanshu hatched an elaborate plan to fund his addiction.

According to the police, the accused was addicted to a gaming app where repeated losses had prompted him to borrow and keep playing.

After running through the money, Himanshu realised he was in debt of more than Rs 4 lakh ($4,800). With the creditors breathing down his neck, Himanshu stole his paternal aunt's jewellery and used the money to buy life insurance policies worth Rs 50 lakh ($60,300)each for his parents.

Additional SP of Fatehpur saidafter purchasing the policy, he waited for his father to leave the house. One day when his father Roshan Singh went to the Hanuman temple in Chitrakoot, Himanshu seized upon the opportunity and allegedly choked his mother Prabha to death.

Uncovering the body

After killing his mother he put her body in a jute bag and drove his tractor to the Yamuna rover to dispose it of.His crime was only exposed after the father returned and upon not finding either his wife or son, startedmaking inquiries.

The neighbours informed Roshan that they had last seen Himanshu near the riverbank on a tractor. Subsequently, the police was alerted, leading to the recovery of Prabha's body on February 21. Soon, Himanshu, who was on the run, was apprehended.

"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.

During interrogation, Himanshu revealed the entire plot and said his addiction had forced him to take such drastic measure.

(With inputs from agencies)