Teenager Kills Girl To Feed Video Game Habit

Campaigners have warned about the dangers of online game addiction after a teenager allegedly killed a seven-year-old girl for her earrings to feed his video game habit.

Mong The Xuong, 15, confessed to luring the youngster into woods in Nghe An province in the north central coast of Vietnam, and beating her to death with a rock, Vietnamese police say.

He said he killed Anh Nhu because he did not have money to play online games at an internet cafe near his home in Yen Hoa, it is claimed.

Locals said the 9th grade high school pupil often spent hours at internet cafes every day, playing Vo Lam Truyen Ky (Swordsman Online) - a violent, massively popular multi-player game in Vietnam, based on Chinese kung fu stories.

Online Gamers Anonymous, a US-based support group for addicts, said the killing - and the level of violence used - highlighted the need for action to be taken to restrict excessive gaming.

Anh Nhu's killing is the latest in a long line of deaths and violent crimes around the world attributed to video game addiction.

According to his confession, Mong lured the girl into woods near their village on May 23 by asking her if she wanted to help him pick fruit to sell at a local market.

He told police he suddenly pushed her down a 20ft rocky drop near a stream before climbing down and beating her repeatedly on the back of the head with a rock, hoping people would think she suffered her injuries in the fall.

He said he cut the earrings into pieces with scissors, and then wrapped them in paper and hid them under the leg of a wardrobe. He was later arrested.

Elizabeth Woolley, who set up Online Gamers Anonymous after her son Shawn committed suicide because of his addiction to online games, said it was time governments stepped in and did something about the ever-growing habit.

"Until governments around the world recognise it's a problem, it's just going to keep getting worse and worse in terms of murders and crimes caused by excessive and obsessive online game play," she said.

"It's exactly like drugs or alcohol - once people get addicted, they feel they have to have it. There are always certain people who will get addicted to a drug, and in gaming we estimate it's about 20% to 30% of people."

The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), which represents businesses in the UK video games industry, was unavailable for comment.