A 13-year-old boy allegedly hanged himself to death in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, leaving behind a purported suicide note, which says that he was taking the drastic step after losing Rs 40,000 in an online game, police said on Saturday.

The Class 6 student, son of a pathology lab owner, ended his life at his residence in Chhatarpur city on Friday afternoon, they said. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shashank Jain said that the teen left behind a suicide note. "In the note, the boy, who studied in a private school, sought apology from his mother and said that he is committing suicide due to depression. It mentioned that he had withdrawn Rs 40,000 from her UPI account and wasted the money on 'Free Fire' game," he said.

The minor took the extreme step when his mother, a nurse working with the state health department, had gone to the district hospital and his father was also not at home, police officials said. After getting an alert on her phone about the financial transaction from her account, the boy's mother had called and scolded him for it. The boy then locked himself inside a room.

After some time, his elder sister found that he was not opening the door and informed her parents about it, they said. Later, when the door of the room was broken open, the boy was found hanging from the ceiling fan using a scarf, police said.

A similar incident had occurred in January this year at Dhana town of Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh, in which a 12-year-old boy had hanged himself to death after his father took away his mobile phone due to his addiction to 'Free Fire' game.

( Mental Health Helplines:  Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline +91-22-25521111 is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm. Sneha Foundation Chennai-based NGO has a 24-hour helpline +91-44-24640050. The Pink Project is a Mumbai-based mental health initiative, founded by two psychologists, is offering free online counselling during the COVID-19 crisis.)