Editor,
A Class 12 student was found hanging in an abandoned building near his home in Kolkata in March this year. Police said that the 17-year-old boy was in “debt” and into “online gambling,” a habit of his that his family and teachers were unaware of.
Online gambling has become a deathtrap, especially for those who are the victims of poverty. The lives of many young persons who do not have a comfortable cushion of wealth to absorb the shock of addiction-driven expenses are being destroyed.
Parthiban was the sole breadwinner of his family. The 28-year-old autorickshaw driver had two young daughters. He died by suicide in Tamil Nadu in November 2022, allegedly because he lost money in online gambling.
In the same month, a woman migrant worker from Odisha, Pandhana Maji, ended her life in Tamil Nadu after she allegedly suffered losses in online gambling. B Sivanraj, a cab driver, died by suicide after losing over Rs 15 lakhs in online gambling in January 2023. Gunaseelan, a restaurant employee, died by suicide after telling his coworkers that he lost almost Rs 2 lakhs in gambling.
Advertisements for gambling are given in such a clever way that they make audiences believe that online gambling will rescue them from poverty. Thanks to those lucrative advertisements, some of which are presented by celebrities, online gambling has been highlighted as a safe entertainment and a sure road to success. Moreover, statutory warnings against online gambling are given in a hurried manner, which is extremely difficult to comprehend.
Every day, 154 farmers and daily-wage workers die by suicide. The 2022 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report recorded a 4 percent increase in suicide rate. The highest group among 1,22,724 male suicides was the daily-wage workers. The report says that as many as 41,433 male daily-wage workers were suicide victims in one year.
Extreme poverty can drive a person to suicide. But if he does not want to end his life then two death-traps are waiting for him. The first trap is gambling which he or his children may step in out of despair to save their souls.
When they lose money in gambling, the second trap is waiting for them in the form of unauthorised digital lending platforms and mobile apps that give quick loans. Several reports highlight that these platforms not only charge excessive interest rates but also demand hidden fees. They do not hesitate to use aggressive recovery methods and to breach borrower’s online privacy.
Lottery and gambling have become a lucrative business. The biggest purchaser of the electoral bonds turned out to be not a big business group but a lottery company that had spent Rs 1,368 crore in 21 separate bouts of purchases between October 2020 and January 2024.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority under the consumer affairs, food & public distribution ministry issued a press release on 6 March, 2024, reminding, “Betting and gambling are strictly prohibited under the Public Gambling Act 1867, and are considered illegal in the majority of regions across the country.”
But at the same time, it admitted, “Despite this, online betting platforms and apps persist in advertising betting and gambling directly, as well as under the guise of gaming.” Here is a question. How can such platforms and apps dare to persist when the authority in the same press release also acknowledges that “endorsement of such activities presents considerable financial and socioeconomic implications, especially to the youth”?
Sujit De,
Kolkata