Pakistan police recommends banning of PUBG, after a teenager murdered family inspired by the game

PUBG, a video game developed in China, is to be recommended for a ban by Pakistani police after a young boy shot dead his mother and three siblings in Lahore in Punjab province.

The police will be sending recommendations to the provincial and federal governments for banning China's PUBG and other dangerous video games.

A Punjab Police spokesperson said that they have decided to send recommendations amid the fueling trend of violence and gunfire so the younger generation in the country could be protected from their harmful effects, according to The News International.

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The police cited an incident where a youth who becomes addicted to playing PUBG shot dead his mother, three siblings in the Kahna area.

"Ali Zain shot dead his mother, two sisters, and a brother on January 19, 2022, and hid the pistol," The News International reported quoting a police spokesperson.

Nahid Mubarak, a 45-year-old health worker, was found dead along with her 22-year-old son Taimur and two daughters aged 17 and 11 in Lahore's Kahna area.

PUBG is said to have influenced the 14-year-old's decision to kill his entire family. Playing online games for long hours has left him with some psychological issues.

Nahid, a divorcee, often chided the boy for not paying attention to his studies and spending most of his time playing PUBG.

"On the day of the incident, Nahid scolded the boy over the matter. Later, the boy took out her mother's pistol from a cupboard and shot her and his three other siblings dead in their sleep."

Repeated defeats reportedly made the boy more stressed and he fired shots thinking his family would come back to life as they do in the game.

The Dawn newspaper reports that this is the fourth such crime related to the online game in Lahore.

At the time of that first case coming to light in 2020, Zulfiqar Hameed, then-capital city police officer, had recommended a ban on the game to save lives, time, and the future of millions of teenagers.

PUBG has been associated with the suicide deaths of three young players in the last two years, according to police reports.

Gaming disorder has been officially added to the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is defined as a pattern of behaviour that is characterized by impaired control of gaming (digital or video), prioritising gaming over other interests and activities to the point where gaming dominates daily activity, and escalating gaming despite negative results.

(With inputs from agencies)