‘Gambling spoiled my life’: Man who lost lakhs kills self in Tambaram

CHENNAI: A 36-year-old man who lost several lakhs in online gambling died by suicide in his house near Tambaram on Friday.

The deceased identified as Vinoth Kumar of Madambakkam was a medical representative. He is married and has two children.

Police said Vinoth Kumar was addicted to online rummy and he availed loan of nearly Rs 20 lakh from mobile apps and had lost all the money in gambling.

His wife, Lalitha, had several times requested him to stop playing betting games, but he never listened to her.

Six months ago, Lalitha took Vinoth for counselling following which he stopped playing the games for a month. However, he again resumed.

On Friday morning, when Lalitha went to work, Vinoth and his mother Tamilselvi were alone at home.

In the afternoon, Vinoth told Tamilselvi to prepare snacks for the children, since they would return from school soon and he went inside his room. In the evening, when Lalitha returned home, she found Vinoth's room was locked from the inside and there was no response from him.

Later, when they broke open the door, Vinoth was found dead. The Selaiyur police team that visited the spot sent the body for post-mortem to the Chromepet GH and the police recovered a suicide note.

Vinodh apologised to his wife, children and mother for leaving them too early. He also requested his mother to take care of his wife and two children and said rummy has spoiled his life and he left the world due to huge debt.

He said that at least now the government should ban rummy so that many lives can be saved. The Selaiyur police have registered a case and further inquiry is on.