A 16-year-old boy in Jambon, Ponorogo, East Java, burned down his family house after his parents told him he would have to wait until after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday to get a new phone.
Jambon Police chief Djoko Winarto confirmed the incident on Saturday, May 19, saying the boy was angry because his 50-year-old father, Gumbrek, who works as a farmer, did not immediately buy the phone for him.
“The boy asked for a phone, but his parents had yet to buy it for him, so he got angry and burned down his own parents’ house,” he said, as quoted by kompas.com.
The parents said they would buy the phone but that he had to wait until after Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
The boy, however, refused to wait. He then brought firewood to the kitchen and set fire to his own house.
No fatalities were reported in the incident, which cost the family Rp 75 million (S$7,100), including Rp 3 million in cash.
Djoko said the boy had once threatened to kill his parents when he asked for a motorcycle.
He was later involved in a fracas with local residents because of his reckless driving, he added.
Source: Jakarta Post
Photo courtesy of Kompas