Suicide cases labelled as gambling addiction, allege kin of victims

CHENNAI: Are some of the suicide cases in the State wrongly being labelled as due to addiction/losses in online gambling? At least in seven cases, the family members told DT Next that after losing loved ones to suicide, they are now grappling with the misrepresentation of death as suicide due to indulgence in online gambling. While deaths due to losses in online gambling are a major concern across the State, the families said wrong information restricts any kind of assistance coming their way.

36-year-old Saranya learnt that her husband, Shankar S, had killed himself when she was at work, a job she took up to help repay loans and make ends meet. “We wanted to buy a house, so we took a housing loan. We were required to pay an EMI of Rs 23,000, but couldn’t, due to which we endured a lot of mental pressure. He didn’t even have a smartphone,” she said.

Nitish Kumar, hailing from TP Chatram, was a BCA student at SRM College. He also worked part-time at a tattoo studio. After his death came to light, police and news reports claimed it was due to losses incurred from playing online rummy. But his family disputed this claim.

His brother, Akash, currently an engineering student at RMK College, said, “Police also believed he killed himself due to online rummy but this is not true. They did not investigate properly and now CB-CID is investigating. Now no one helps us thinking I too will spend money the same way,” Akash added.

Bhuvaneshwari, a domestic worker, salvaged every penny to amass Rs 20,000 to pay her son’s school fees. However, her husband, an alcoholic, spent it on alcohol. “Unable to bear this, she ended life. She was tired of her husband’s alcohol addiction. But to the media, police said her husband played online games,” said R Sheela, her mother.

Despite this, media reports have continuously claimed that Suresh lost money playing online rummy. People now refuse to help my grandson who is in 9th grade, said Sheela.

R Kalimuthu, a cop with Coimbatore City Armed Reserve Battalion II, was on duty at a government-organised exhibition when he used his office rifle to shoot himself. Kalimuthu committed suicide due to his addiction to online rummy, claimed all news headlines.

 Are some of the suicide cases in the State wrongly being labelled as due to addiction/losses in online gambling? At least in seven cases, the family members told DT Next that after losing loved ones to suicide, they are now grappling with the misrepresentation of death as suicide due to indulgence in online gambling. While deaths due to losses in online gambling are a major concern across the State, the families said wrong information restricts any kind of assistance coming their way.

36-year-old Saranya learnt that her husband, Shankar S, had killed himself when she was at work, a job she took up to help repay loans and make ends meet. “We wanted to buy a house, so we took a housing loan. We were required to pay an EMI of Rs 23,000, but couldn’t, due to which we endured a lot of mental pressure. He didn’t even have a smartphone,” she said.

Nitish Kumar, hailing from TP Chatram, was a BCA student at SRM College. He also worked part-time at a tattoo studio. After his death came to light, police and news reports claimed it was due to losses incurred from playing online rummy. But his family disputed this claim.

His brother, Akash, currently an engineering student at RMK College, said, “Police also believed he killed himself due to online rummy but this is not true. They did not investigate properly and now CB-CID is investigating. Now no one helps us thinking I too will spend money the same way,” Akash added.

Bhuvaneshwari, a domestic worker, salvaged every penny to amass Rs 20,000 to pay her son’s school fees. However, her husband, an alcoholic, spent it on alcohol. “Unable to bear this, she ended life. She was tired of her husband’s alcohol addiction. But to the media, police said her husband played online games,” said R Sheela, her mother.

They did not probe properly and now CB-CID is investigating. Due to stigma of gambling death no one wants to help them Sheela, kin of a suicide victim

Despite this, media reports have continuously claimed that Suresh lost money playing online rummy. People now refuse to help my grandson who is in 9th grade, said Sheela.

R Kalimuthu, a cop with Coimbatore City Armed Reserve Battalion II, was on duty at a government-organised exhibition when he used his office rifle to shoot himself. Kalimuthu committed suicide due to his addiction to online rummy, claimed all news headlines.

Kalimuthu’s wife Thilainayagi wants to put this false narrative to rest. She said, “His salary as a constable was not sufficient. So he started borrowing. But when we were not able to repay, loan sharks came calling. They started to abuse and threat him,” she added. In the aftermath of her husband’s death, Thilainayagi did not receive any assistance from the government or any organisation since he was accused of indulging in online gambling. Unable to bear the mental anguish, she attempted to kill herself but failed. At least in 7 instances, the cause of death that stemmed from financial troubles, domestic issues and depression was allegedly attributed to online gaming addiction.

Speaking on the issue, P Sridhar from the Rotary Rainbow Project which works with the families of suicide victims across Tamil Nadu, said, “It is our moral responsibility to help these traumatised families as well as to identify the root cause of these tragic incidents and work to find a long-term, sustainable solution to prevent such in the future. Assigning a single, deceptive label to all suicides is a terrible injustice to the victims and their kin mourning the loss of their loved ones and trying to cope.”

He said this also stops organisations or individuals from helping them since a death due to indulgence in online gambling is seen as an irresponsible act. With online gambling and gaming addiction actually leading to several suicides in the State, suicide victims are attributed to the same in many cases since cause were not known clearly.

“There is a difference when there is a suicidal death in the family due to alleged involvement in online gambling. The family is marginalised and there is a taboo that restricts any help to them. Not just the family members, but also the extended family members are labelled as gamblers,” said Eshita, founder of Black and White Enterprise, an organisation that conducts the impact and effects of laws and political considerations for suicide victims.