HYDERABAD: Days after a 25-year-old man died by suicide after allegedly losing money in online betting games at Ibrahimpatnam in Rangareddy district, a 21-year-old immolated himself in Maheshwaram in the same district on Friday after accumulating huge debts through online betting apps.
Sai Kiran, a first-year degree student of a Hyderabad college, who was addicted to online betting, locked himself in his room and set himself on fire. He was rushed to a hospital with severe burns and succumbed during treatment.
Police said Kiran, who lived with his mother, lost approximately Rs 4 lakh in various betting apps and took additional loans to cover his losses. In a desperate attempt to recover his losses, he sold his scooter for Rs 40,000 and continued betting, only to lose more money.
"He managed to keep his betting addiction hidden from his mother, who works as a daily wage labourer," said Maheshwaram station house officer H Venkateshwarlu.
The mother raised Kiran alone after her husband left her soon after their marriage. "He borrowed money from multiple sources and friends without his mother's knowledge," the SHO said.
When Kiran's mother confronted him about his scooter, he told her that he had given it for repair.
‘Kiran was upset & took extreme step’
When she offered to pay the repair bill and demanded to see the vehicle, Kiran was upset and took the extreme step, police said.
T Lingam of Toolekalan in Ibrahimpatnam, who ended his life on Dec 18, had also suffered substantial losses in online betting and had borrowed huge money from his friends, which he failed to return, police said.
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