Ghaziabad: Class V students, are bound at home for months because of the pandemic, writing on the school zoom account that he will soon be kidnapped, triggering concerns not only among family members but also teachers.
He didn’t stop there.
The 10-year-old child from Nandgram in Ghaziabad also uses his grandfather’s cellphone to send a message to his grandmother and vice versa.
This is the second time in a month that a child has chosen a threat to his own family members.
In both cases, children upset are restricted at home because of Covid and encourage parents to learn and not watch TV.
On August 6, the Nandgram boy teacher was surprised to see the message in his window during the online class.
The message reads: “Your child will soon be kidnapped”.
Worried, the teacher called the boy’s mother, a private company employee in Ghaziabad, and told him about a threat message.
When the mother asked the boy about it, he pretended not to know, triggering speculation that his account might have been hacked.
The boy then called his father, who worked at a packaging company in Uttarakhand.
School authorities change three zoom passwords three times, but the message does not stop.
The same kidnapping threat appears on the screen every now and then for the next few days.
One morning, the boy took his grandfather’s call and sent a similar threat to his grandmother’s number.
He also used his grandmother’s phone to do the same.
He, however, attentive to replacing “children” with “grandchildren” while sending a message to his grandparents.
The boy approached the police on August 10 and a team of Cyber cells visited their homes.
Some police lived in the room when the boy attended his online class.
The police observed that there was no threat message about zoom when the police were present indoors.
The 9-year-old child was questioned, and he claimed to have sent the message itself.
“While sending a text message to his grandparents, the boy will leak some family information and even the details of their bank account,” Abhay Mishra said, the officers of the Indirapuram circle and the responsible Cyber Cell Cell.
What came out when questioned indeed pointed to a worrying trend.
The boy, whose parents spent most of their time in the office, told the police that he often missed them.
His grandparents, with whom he lived for most of the day, would not let him out during a pandemic or let him watch old cartoons.
“He was annoyed with this.
He also wanted to go to his grandparents,” Mishra said.
Last month, a 12-year-old girl, who was also limited to his house during a pandemic, posted the words Cuss Hindi as a status message on his phone and his parents.
When parents took the phone, he sent a message saying that their seven-year-old son – his younger brother – would be killed if they did not pay Rs 1 Crore.
Dr.
Saket Tiwari, a psychiatrist in Ghaziabad, said the increase in screen time during a pandemic had an effect on the minds of children.
“Parents must spend more time with their children, especially when they are restricted at home,” he added.
GZB: Class V Boy Post Kidnap Threats in the Zoom Class
