11 Times PUBG Players Behaved Crazily, And Caused Tragic Deaths & Accidents In India

Ever since it began gaining popularity in India, PUBG has been something of a controversial topic.

Many blame it for teenage smartphone addiction, as well as a number of tragic incidents of violence. And really, there's no concrete evidence to prove either opinion.

1. Self harm

A fitness trainer in Jammu was admitted to the psychiatric hospital earlier in January, after he began self-harming. Supposedly the sixth such case in the state, doctors suggest he might have undergone emotional distress related to his addiction to the game, after he played it near-nonstop for 10 days. After finishing up a round one day, he reportedly began hitting himself hard, injuring himself and having to be rushed to the hospital.

2. Missing a school year

A youngster from Pune apparently became so addicted to the game after a year of playing, that he refused began to skip school to keep playing. When his parents noticed and took away his phone, he became violent. Eventually, he ended up missing an entire academic year in the process.

3. Suicide when stopped from playing

A 17-year-old boy from Jind in Haryana committed suicide after his mother took away his phone for playing too much PUBG. Though he had passed his class X exams a year before, he never bothered going to classes at his new higher secondary school for a year, instead opting to play PUBG instead. When he was found trying to secretly play PUBG on the roof of their family home, his mother took away his phone. The boy was found hanging in his room the next day.

4. Suicide when denied an expensive phone to play

An 18-year-old boy from Mumbai committed suicide after being denied a Rs 37,000 smartphone to play PUBG. Distraught that he was missing out, he hung himself from the ceiling fan in the kitchen of their residence.

5. Distracted and run over by a train

Earlier this year, two men in Maharashtra were run over by a train while playing PUBG. They were distracted, playing the game near the railway tracks in Hingloi district, and were mowed down by a train.

6. Drinking acid instead of water

A 25-year-old from Madhya Pradesh was engrossed in his match when he felt thirsty. He reached for a drink of water without taking his eyes of the screen. Unfortunately for him, he accidentally grabbed a bottle of acid, drinking a lot of it before realising what was happening. Though he survived, he was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.

7. Playing till you drop

A 16-year-old from Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh apparently though it was a good idea to play the popular game for six hours at a stretch. Shortly after losing a match, he reportedly complained of a headache and fell unconscious. He was brought to the hospital with no pulse and doctors failed to revive him. They suspect he may have suffered a cardiac episode thanks to too much adrenaline from the prolonged gaming session.

8. Nerve damage from bad posture

A 20-year-old from Jagitial in Telangana died while playing PUBG, apparently after he'd been playing near constantly for 45 consecutive days. He was rushed to a hospital in Hyderabad where he died while undergoing treatment. Doctors theorized he might have caused irreparable damage to the nerves in his neck, bending over his phone for so many hours at a stretch.

9. Killing a brother to play

A 15-year-old from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra allegedly killed his 18-year-old brother when he scolded him for playing too much PUBG. The boy reportedly got so angry he slammed his brother's head into the wall and stabbed him repeatedly with a pair of scissors.

10. Killing father for 'peace of mind'

A 25-year-old from Karnataka killed his father so he would have a chance to play PUBG "in peace". He would reportedly fight with his 65-year-old father regularly over his PUBG addiction. Eventually one day, in a fit of anger during an argument, he cut off his father's head and legs.

11. Killing the whole family

A 19-year-old man from Delhi reportedly killed his whole family for nagging him about his PUBG addiction. He killed his father, mother, and sister late and night, and even attempted to ransack the house later and make it look like a robbery.

All of these are particularly noteworthy incidents related to PUBG, because of how extreme they are. Isolated, they can very easily be taken as evidence the game is dangerous and should be banned. But when you consider that in the larger context, it becomes a slightly more nuanced discussion.

There are clearly millions of others playing PUBG across India everyday, and yet these sort of incidents are few and far between. So perhaps it's not necessarily that the game itself is evil. Then again, it's also very possible that the nature of its competitiveness (and perhaps even some elements of addictiveness) drive those more susceptible or already mentaly unstable to violence.

In any case, the issue demands further scrutiny from lawmakers and medical professionals alike, as well as those in the industry itself.