A 29-year-old woman allegedly died by suicide on Sunday after she lost 20 sovereigns of gold jewellery and Rs 3 lakh of borrowed money to online gambling. The deceased a resident of Manali New Town, Chennai was working in a private healthcare firm in Kandanchavadi.

Her husband Bakkiyaraj (32) is working in a tech company at Thoraipakkam and they have two children. The couple married six years ago after falling in love with each other and have two children aged 3 and 2. The Manali New Town police registered a case and sent the body to the Stanley GH for autopsy.

“During the lockdown, Bhavani became addicted to online gambling,” a senior police officer was quoted by The New Indian Express. A few months ago, Bhavani mortgaged 20 sovereigns and lost money in online gambling. On being confronted by her husband and family, Bhavani borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh each from her two sisters.

“However, she used the money to play. Four days ago, Bhavani confessed to her younger sister that she lost the money and promised not to play again,” said the police. At around 8.30 pm, Bhavani went inside her room to take a bath. When she did not come out for a long time, her husband broke open the door and found her lying dead. She was rushed in an ambulance to Government Stanley Hospital where the doctors declared her as being brought dead.

Citing the spate of suicides, former CM E Palaniswami on Monday demanded an immediate ban on online gambling.

Tamil Nadu DGP C. Sylendra Babu recently warned the public that playing online rummy could lead to debt and suicide. The top cop said the number of people losing money and jewellery due to online gaming has increased in the last few months.

PMK Chief Anbumani Ramadoss recently met Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi to press for a ban on online rummy. Governor Ravi expressed surprise over the online rummy issue and said he was not aware of the issue but will look into the matter for initiating appropriate action.