Debt, despair and the dark side of online gambling in Telangana Premium

Article explores tragic impact of gambling addiction on families, highlighting need for stricter regulations and awareness.

Trigger warning: the following article contains references to suicide; please avoid reading if you are disturbed by the subject.

Tears brim in Edire Laxmi’s bloodshot eyes as she stands outside the gate of the house where her son took his last breath. “I cannot open the door and see inside. It is too traumatic,” murmurs the frail 39-year-old from Pochamma Basti, Maheswaram, about an hour’s drive from Hyderabad. Unable to return home, she now stays at her mother’s house in a maze of narrow lanes lined with small dwellings in the prosperous village.

Inside a cluttered room filled with rice sacks, utensils and a faded calendar, Laxmi squats beside her mother, staring blankly at her phone. Memories flood in — of her quiet, brooding son, Sai Kiran, juggling three mobile phones, worrying constantly about money, and rarely meeting friends.

December 19 had started like any other day. That morning, her 21-year-old son skipped college and stayed home. “I made him breakfast and left for the farm around 9 a.m.,” she says. Then came the call. Her son had set himself on fire.

When she reached home, she found thick grey smoke pouring from the house, the acrid stench of burning flesh and petrol filling the air. Neighbours threw water, but inside, Sai Kiran sat still — legs stretched out, hands slightly raised, body burnt beyond recognition. Against the soot-stained wall, he remained unmoving.

Laxmi’s mother trembles as she recalls his final words: “I have a lot of debt. I can’t take it anymore,” he had whispered through scorched lips.

The day before, he was seen with a friend. He later stepped out to buy petrol for his motorcycle, but instead he doused himself in it and set himself ablaze.