Kerala Man Dies by Suicide After Incurring Losses Playing Online Rummy

A 29 year old man took his own life in Thiruvananthapuram as he could not pay debt incurred due to his addiction to online gambling.

VH Vineeth was the son of Velayudhan Pillai from Mannoorkara Village, Kuttichal. His father was recently elected to the Kuttichal Grama Panchayat, the results of which were announced on December 16. The area comes under the gambit of Neyyar Dam police station.

The young man worked as a contract labourer at VSSC, as per a report in The Times of India. He allegedly committed suicide on December 31st night by hanging himself in a rubber plantation near his residence. Hi father

Vineeth’s family told the police that he suffered losses due to his gambling addiction. He played rummy online and spent a lot of money on it. On running out money, he borrowed from his friends to play more.

“According to his brother Vineesh’s statement, Vineeth was under a debt of Rs. 4 lakh,” said a police offer linked with the Neyyar Dam police station.

He had been playing the online game for over a year, but he allegedly became addicted to it during the lockdown. Even though he started going to work after the lockdown, he could not pay his debt.

The Tamil Nadu government recently promoted an ordinance to ban online gaming activities that includes rummy and poker. The state joins Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in stopping online gaming activities, following pressure after several suicides relating to online gaming losses.