Santosh, an engineering student from Malayandipatti village, Trichy district, committed suicide after losing money in online gambling. 

Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) President and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss tweeted, “This suicide could have been prevented if the governor had approved the online gambling ban ordinance immediately. No one should die anymore because of online gambling. Considering that, the Governor of Tamil Nadu should immediately approve the Prohibition of Online Gambling Ordinance”.

Earlier in September, the Tamil Nadu cabinet approved an ordinance to ban online gaming for stakes and is due for the approval of the Governor. Anbumani Ramadoss strongly supports the bill and has been urging the Governor to approve it.

In 2021, the High Court had struck down the law to ban online gaming for stakes in the state that was enacted by the AIADMK government, saying, “ban on gaming for stakes in skill games was in violation of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution which allows people the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade, or business”.

Ramadoss has opposed online gaming for stakes including skill-based games like rummy and poker and has claimed that it has various ill-effects on people’s lives and destroys families stating that there have been numerous suicide cases after people lose money and go into debt by these online games.

He has been partaking in many events to promote a ban on online gaming. He also said that when the HC lifted the ban on online gaming in 2021, there was a flood of advertisements from online gambling companies and many suicide cases within a few weeks.

The new ordinance made by the government has given him hope of banning online gaming again.  However, the Governor has not given his assent yet, and after another case of suicide Ramadoss has shown his displeasure with regard to the time taken to come to a decision to ban online gaming.