Man kills 14-year-old nephew over online game addiction, surrenders after three days

 

By Sumesh Rajan | August 10, 2025

Bengaluru, Karnataka, INDIA: In a shocking case from northwestern Bengaluru, a 50-year-old man allegedly slit the throat of his 14-year-old nephew following repeated quarrels over money to play online games. The accused, identified as G.R. Nagaprasad, a security guard, surrendered to police three days after the crime.

According to investigators, the victim, Amogha Keerthi, a Class 7 student of a private school, had been living with his maternal uncle for the past several months in Kumbarahalli, Vinayaka Layout. His mother, Shilpa, had separated from her husband before his birth and sent him to her brother’s home in the hope he would mend his ways.

Police said Amogha was addicted to the mobile game Free Fire and frequently demanded money from Nagaprasad, even asking for an iPhone and other expensive items. The accused told police that the boy was headstrong, short-tempered, and had assaulted him a week earlier when he refused to give money.

The fatal incident took place in the early hours of August 4 at the accused’s rented room in Vinayak Nagar, Pipeline Road. After an argument the previous night, Nagaprasad allegedly gagged the boy, tied his hands and feet, covered his face with clothes, and slit his throat with a kitchen knife while he slept.

Following the killing, Nagaprasad washed the knife, locked the room from outside, and left with a packed bag. He initially attempted suicide by jumping into a nearby lake, but abandoned the plan when he found the water too shallow. He then travelled to Majestic bus terminal, where he loitered for three days, eating at roadside stalls and sleeping on benches.

On August 7, with no money left and having lost his bag, Nagaprasad surrendered at the Soladevanahalli police station. Officers later recovered the boy’s decomposed body from the locked room.

Authorities said the mother had sent the boy to live with her brother hoping he would discipline him and help him stay away from online games — a plan that ended in tragedy.

Police have booked Nagaprasad for murder and produced him before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody