A young man from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra, has committed suicide after losing Rs 3.5 lakh playing online rummy. After losing the money, the person in talk, Gaurav Pawar, jumped off into Harsul Lake on Friday afternoon.

According to the police, Pawar was sitting at the bank of the lake and suddenly jumped in. A person noticed the act and informed authorities. The police and fire brigade reached the seven with divers who dived in to rescue Pawar but failed to do so.

Inspector Amol Deokar from Harsul police station revealed that currently, the case is registered as accidental death.

Deokar said, “The youth was addicted to online rummy. Initially, he lost Rs 3 lakh. This was followed by him losing another Rs 50,000. He was upset over frequently losing money and running into a debt cycle,” according to TOI.

Reports claim that Pawar was already facing a lot of stress due to financial problems after losing money on online rummy. One of the family members even tried to help him by giving Rs 40,000 to Pawar.

Maharashtra is already looking to regulate online gambling since last year. While some claim that online gaming should be banned, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that online skill games cannot be banned as they do not come under gambling but asks for a mass awareness campaign to inform people of addiction.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) members in Maharashtra targeted celebrities and influencers promoting online gambling and rummy and demanded action against them for pushing society towards harm.

While celebrities promoting online rummy might not face any issues as online rummy is considered a game of skill, other influencers promoting online gambling and illegal offshore websites can still be charged under the consumer protection act and barred from appearing in advertisements.