(This article is authored by Alar) 

In what has become a shocking piece of news that showcased the menace of the online rummy for yet another time, a 37-year-old man in Chennai has committed suicide due to losing money online. In his suicide note that was recovered by the police, he had written, "I had committed suicide due to the loss caused by online gambling. No one was responsible for my death." 

37-year-old Nagarajan was a resident of Aringnar Anna street in Manali, Chennai. A painting contractor by profession, Nagarajan was living with his wife Varalakshmi and two sons - Pranav and Pradeep, both of them are eight years old. After becoming addicted to the online rummy, Nagarajan had been losing a lot of money in the game for the past few months, which put his family in financial distress. 

Nagarajan had been playing online rummy for the past four years. Despite the warning from his family, he had kept playing the game and kept losing more money. On Thursday, he had locked himself in his room and committed suicide by hanging. His wife found him hanging and with the help of neighbours, she took Nagarajan to the Stanley Hospital. However, he was declared brought dead. 

During the preliminary investigation, the police found that Nagarajan had borrowed money from his neighbourhood, relatives, and friends. He also pawned his wife's jewellery and he had even pledged his phone. His conduct of losing money had led to frequent disputes between husband and wife. His addiction made him play more and it was too late when he realized the drastic outcome. 

The police found a letter from him which has read that he died because of his inability to pay the Rs 20 lakh debt. The police even found a notebook from his house, in which Nagarajan had noted down the details of money lost and the debt he had acquired from his friends and relatives. His body was sent for an autopsy and this has become the second such case in Manali in June.

Earlier, 29-year-old Bhavani from Manali had committed suicide at her home after she lost lakhs of rupees. It is pertinent to note that the Tamil Nadu government has on June 10 formed a four-member committee to give guidance for promulgating an ordinance to ban online rummy. The committee, headed by former Madras High Court Judge Justice Chandru, has been tasked to submit its report in two weeks.