A teenager in China recently died after attending a "boot camp" claiming to treat Internet addiction.

His death has thrown the spotlight on a burgeoning but controversial industry in the country.

Critical condition

The victim, an 18 year-old teenager from Fuyang, Anhui province, had been sent to a privately-run internet rehabilitation camp by his parents.

Within 48 hours of his enrollment, he was found to be in critical condition.

He was pronounced dead after he was sent to the hospital, leaving behind a scarred-covered body and many unanswered questions about such camps.

China's internet rehabilitation industry

Among 700 million internet users in China today, it is estimated that there are 24 million who are clinically diagnosed with internet addiction.

Most of these addicts are between 8 and 30 years old, and they are being targeted by hundreds of registered and unregistered internet rehabilitation centres. These centres charge up to tens of thousands of Chinese yuan (above SGD$2,000) for their rehabilitation programmes.

Those who sign up will join a few dozen other participants in a programme that confines them inside a military camp-like environment for weeks or even months.

Many of these boot camps are run by ex-military officers, who subject their new recruits to strict military discipline, combined with other forms of physical therapy.

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Various accounts of abuse

A typical internet rehabilitation bootcamp has the following activities: Drill exercises, long questionnaires, electroencephalogram (EEG) scans and lectures on the ills of internet addiction.

However, there have been various accounts of abuse so far.

In some cases, there were accounts of verbal abuse as part of disciplinary action carried out by instructors.

There were also accounts of alleged physical abuse, such as claims that participants were forced to stand still for hours, eat in front of toilet bowls, and prevented from rest and sleep.

In other cases, those who tried to escape from boot camps were severely beaten up.

New laws regulating the industry

Against the backdrop of the increasing number of deaths in these boot camps, the Chinese government drafted new laws this year, which included the banning of dangerous "cures", such as electric shock therapy.

However, it appears that regulations are lagging behind what is happening in the industry.

This lucrative business is flourishing, as many clients are either unaware or do not believe in dreadful accounts of mishaps.

Some companies have even set up new boot camps with new names after being flagged as "illegal".

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