Chinese boy kills mother in cybercafe row

A teenage boy in southern China, "heavily addicted" to the Internet, killed his mother and severely injured his father with a kitchen knife after he was refused money to go to a cybercafe, state media said on Thursday.

The boy, identified only by his last name, Wang, is from Guangzhou, capital of the Guangdong province. He stabbed his mother to death at home during a heated argument, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

"After his father got home, Wang hacked at him, causing serious injury. Seeing what he had done, Wang went to his room and sat on his bed," the paper said.

Wang's father ran bleeding to his brother's house, who then alerted the police, according to the newspaper.

The boy had decided to kill his parents a month earlier and had once prepared to kill his father with an iron bar. He had also recently bought sleeping pills, the paper said.

Wang, who is "less than 16" years old, left school a year ago. When not working for his father, who has made a living selling barbecue food in their neighbourhood, he would go to Internet cafes. He had hoped to become an outstanding politician or economist, and believed that his parents were stifling his development, the paper said.

In recent years, China has seen an alarming rise in the number of Internet addicts, who it says may be responsible for up to 80 per cent of juvenile crime.

China has banned the opening of new cybercafes this year and has issued orders limiting the time that Internet users can spend playing online games.

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