A mother and son drowned themselves in a river in Guangyuan, Sichuan province, after arguing on Friday night, Chengdu Commercial Daily reported.

The mother, Zhu Qiulian, had been looking for her missing 16-year-old son in various Internet bars on Friday evening. After she found him in an Internet cafe at about 10 pm, she took him to the bank of the Jialing River.

Failing to persuade him not to play online games, Zhu said she wanted to drown herself. Rushing into the river, she was caught in an undercurrent and swept away.

When Zhu's husband and the boy's father, Sun Guangming, arrived at the scene, he kicked the teenager twice, and the boy jumped into the river. A police officer grabbed his hand, but the teenager kicked him away and disappeared.

Under Chinese law, minors are not allowed to patronize Internet bars. Zhu had asked the bar several times not to admit her son, but within a month, the son was found there four times, Sun said.