|
Call-sex teen kills himself
02/12/2006 13:59 - (SA)
Beijing - A 14-year old Chinese boy killed himself after running up a bill of 1 800 yuan (about R1 000) calling phone sex numbers, reported the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday.
Li Hongbin, from a village in the poor north western Gansu province, dropped out of school last year and began calling the expensive hotlines in August.
He committed suicide by drinking pesticide after a telephone company clerk called at the family home asking for payment.
The longest conversation listed in a 16-page phone bill went on for over four hours, said Xinhua.
Calls cost three yuan a minute, Xinhua cited the head of one service as saying. The average monthly cash income of Chinese farmers is 300 yuan.
Phone sex services have proliferated in China in recent years, with adverts in local telephone directories and newspapers.
Beijing is attempting to crack down on pornography with a campaign that includes monitoring phone sex lines.
- Reuters
|
News
