An engineer from Coimbatore’s Singanallur died by suicide on Wednesday, after incurring heavy losses due to gambling online. Shankar (29), the deceased, took his life at a private lodge located in Ram Nagar and left a note behind saying that his losses in online gambling had pushed him into heavy debt. While the Kattoor police are investigating Shankar’s death, Madurai police suspect online gambling as the reason for another suicide. Vinoth Kumar, a 21-year-old engineering student, died by suicide in his hostel room. 

Coimbatore has recorded a persistent increase in the number of deaths by suicide on the grounds of suffering losses in online gambling. Last week, Salman (22) from Konathukadavu died by suicide after losing Rs 10 lakh in online gambling. Other suicide deaths for similar reasons were reported at a residential area in Gandhipuram and Coimbatore’s railway grounds last year.

Meanwhile, other suicide deaths attributed to online gambling were reported in Tamil Nadu recently. Earlier this month, Manimuthu, a manager at an electronics store in Vazhpadi, Salem, died by suicide at a temple. In November, a labourer who hailed from Odisha took his life after losing Rs 70,000 to online rummy in Sankarankovil, Tensaki. 

These deaths come at a time when the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill which was passed in Assembly on October 19, awaits Governor RN Ravi’s approval. The Governor who had met Ministers earlier to discuss the Bill, had also met with representatives of the E-Gambling Federation (EGF) in the first week of December. Pattali Makkal Katchi president Anbumani Ramadoss took to Twitter and wrote, “There is an urgent need to ratify legislation passed to ban online gambling. Sadly, the Governor is not aware of the suicides caused by online gambling. Prohibition of gambling should be approved immediately.”