Medical student dies by suicide after online gaming losses in Karnataka; borrowed up to Rs 80,000

BIDAR: A final-year MBBS student of Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences (BRIMS) allegedly hanged himself in his hostel room on Tuesday after falling into debt due to losses in online gaming.

According to police sources, the deceased is identified as Anishkar Chavan, 21, of Balatya Tanda, Chincholi taluk, Kalaburagi. He allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan in his hostel room late on Monday night, and the incident came to light on Tuesday morning.

Bidar SP Pradeep Gunti told TOI that they have received information about the MBBS student's suicide and visited the hostel. We have confirmed it was a suicide case, and the parents of the deceased have also filed a complaint with us.

SP said that during our preliminary investigation, we came to know that the deceased Anishkar was playing online games and he was borrowing money from his friends to play online games. He borrowed money up to Rs 80,000 and lost that money in online games.

"While checking his mobile, we discovered that he had downloaded some apps to play online games. As he lost money and continued to lose the game, he was disappointed and distressed. We also found some of his WhatsApp chats sent to his friends, in which he said that he lost money in online gaming, and he was distressed about losing money. These messages showed that he died by suicide after losing in online games," he said.

Anishkar's elder brother is also pursuing MBBS at BRIMS, while his elder sister has completed MBBS from the same institute and is currently pursuing MD in Bengaluru.

The deceased student's father, Shamarao Chavan, said his son shared everything with the family but had never mentioned online gaming. He said he struggled to educate their children despite poverty and urged a proper probe into the death.

Dr Shantala Koujalgi, director, BRIMS, said, "We came to know about the suicide around 7.15am when the hostel in-charge informed us of the incident. Anishkar was in the fourth year of MBBS and was about to complete his degree in the next few months. We got information from police that addiction to online gaming and losing money were the main reasons behind the suicide. It is a really shocking incident, and we are now planning to have meetings with our heads and take measures to counsel students."

Police at New Town police station have registered a case and are investigating the matter.