Gaming addict sets himself ablaze after being told to stop playing on his computer by his dad

CHINA:   A games addict set himself on fire and burnt himself to death after being told by his dad to stop playing on his computer.

Online games nut Hsueh Jun-Chen, 22, had been in his room at his family home in Fenyuan, Taiwan when dad Liu, 48, knocked on his door and told him to go to sleep.

The two exchanged crossed words and the dad had told his son he was fed up with his gaming and wanted him to stop.

But the next day he found Hsueh missing and when he went outside to look for him, he found the boy’s charred remains 300 metres away lying next to empty bottles of petrol.

Devastated Liu said: "I had simply said that he should sleep rather than play because university was starting again after the holidays.

"He said he would and that's the last time I saw him alive.

"When I saw that he wasn't in his room the next day, I went into the garage to see if he had gone out on his motorbike. The bike was still there but I noticed that two cans of petrol were missing.

"That made me feel worried and I began to fear the worst. I never would have thought he would do something as extreme as this though."

Stunned friends and staff at the Chienkuo University of Technology where Hsueh studied expressed their shock after hearing the news.

Teacher Li Hong said: "'I'm very, very surprised. He was such a bright boy; very smart, always did well in class. This is very sad and very unexpected."

A police spokesman said: "We are continuing our investigations but it seems that the pressure of his studies and finding a job after graduation may have been a factor."