Woman Kills Herself After Losing $13,500 In Online Gambling Game

A 29-year-old woman reportedly took her own life at her residence after losing at least US$13,500 while online gambling in Manali New Town, Chennai, India on Sunday, June 5.

B Bhavani, 29, an employee at a private health care firm, was reportedly upset after she lost 20 sovereigns of gold jewelry worth about US$9,640 (7,50,000 Indian Rupees) and US$3855 (3,00,000 Indian Rupees), which she had borrowed from her sisters, in an online gambling game. Upset and frustrated over losing the large sum of money, Bhavani allegedly decided to take the extreme step and killed herself by hanging a noose at her residence in Manali New Town, Chennai, India on Sunday, the Times Of India reported.

According to a preliminary investigation, Bhavani started gambling online after lockdowns were imposed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, Bhavani started betting small sums of money and made a profit. Inspired by her beginner's luck, she started gambling bigger amounts of money on the game. When she started losing funds, her husband Bhakkiyaraj, 32, and her parents warned her to refrain from her gambling habit.

However, consumed by her gambling addiction, Bhavani continued to play, investing larger and larger sums of money and kept losing. A few months ago, Bhavani pawned 20 sovereigns of her gold jewellery and also lost the money while online gambling. When her husband learned of this, he confronted her and warned her from playing again.

However, despite being scolded several times, Bhavani borrowed money from her sisters, Bharathi and Kavitha, claiming that she was going to use the sum to retrieve her gold jewelry. However, instead, she once again put the money towards her gambling addiction and lost the sum.

A few days before her death, Bhavani finally built up the courage and revealed to one of her sisters that she had lost the money and promised to end her gambling habit.

On Sunday, June 5, at around 8:30 p.m., after preparing dinner for her family, Bhavani excused herself to her room saying that she was going to take a bath and locked it from the inside. When there was no sign of her coming out of her room even after a few hours, Bhakkiyaraj broke the door open. He subsequently found his wife dead inside the room.

Following the incident, Manali New Town police registered a case in connection with the death and sent Bhavani's body to the Stanley Government Hospital for an autopsy.

Bhavani and Bhakkiyaraj had been married for six years and have two children, aged 3 and 1.