A 16-year-old boy, said to be a betting/gambling addict, has allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree at Asonomaso in the Kwabre East District of Ashanti, on Wednesday.

The deceased, Kwaku Appiah, a form two student of Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School, was said to have caused the stir following hot exchanges with his mother over the betting/gambling practice, on Tuesday.

The mother was said to have threatened to call the police for his arrest, if he would not stop the practice.

Confirming the incident to the Ghanaian Times, the Unit Committee Chairman in the community, King Aluta, said the deceased told the mother he would kill himself should she call the police for his arrest.

He said the boy, surprisingly, was found hanging on a tree, dead, behind their house in the early hours of Wednesday.

Betting, especially, on football, has become a “juicy” practice with mostly young boys becoming very addicted to it, in the country.

It is interesting to note the boys would not hesitate to fill to the brim betting places any time there was a football match.

Some of these boys could spend a whole day in such places waiting anxiously for outcomes.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, those who engage in gambling are more likely than others to suffer from low self-esteem, develop stress-related disorders, become anxious, have poor sleep and appetite, or suffer from depression.