Online rummy kills Chennai woman

Married to Bhagyaraj, Bhavani was an employee of a private healthcare company in Kandacahavady. She slowly drifted into depression as she had started losing a considerable amount of money because of her addiction to the game.

CHENNAI: A woman from Chennai allegedly committed suicide after losing a lot of money because of her addiction to online rummy. Bhavani (29), a resident of MMDA Colony, Manali New Town in Chennai had been addicted to the online game for the past year. She lost lakhs of rupees over the past year, with each of her wins adding more to her addiction to the game. The woman also ended up selling her 20 sovereign necklaces to play online rummy with the proceeds

Married to Bhagyaraj, Bhavani was an employee of a private healthcare company in Kandacahavady. She slowly drifted into depression as she had started losing a considerable amount of money because of her addiction to the game. Her family, alarmed by both the deterioration of her mental health and the loss of money, tried to get her out of her addiction but to no avail.

As informed by the police officials, Bhavani had spoken about the loss of money and the effect it was having on her mental health with one of her four sisters about four days back. On Sunday, Bhavani went into the bathroom and did not come out for a long time, raising suspicions. Her husband broke the door open after a while and found her dead in the bathroom. She was immediately rushed to the Chennai Stanley Hospital, though the doctors declared her dead on arrival.

The police have taken cognisance of the case and launched an investigation into the matter. Many lament that despite the continued awareness of online rummy on the part of the government and social activists and volunteers, such incidents continue to come forward.