India's online gambling crisis: family suicide in Telangana

September 12, 2026 at 09:46 AM2 min

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A 22-year-old man and his parents died by suicide in Telangana, India, on October 3, 2024, after he accumulated 1.8 million rupees in online betting debts. Police say Harish borrowed from at least 12 villagers, forcing the family to sell land and work as caterers. The deaths highlight India's growing online gambling addiction crisis, with 591 million gamers in 2024 and a $3.7 billion gaming industry.

Key Facts

Harish, 22, from Yedapally village in Telangana, spent about 1.8 million rupees (over $21,000 in 2024) on online betting and borrowed from at least 12 people.
On October 3, 2024, Harish and his parents, Ranganaveni Suresh, 53, and Hemalatha, 45, died by suicide at their home in Nizamabad district.
India had about 591 million gamers in 2024, and its online gaming sector generated about $3.7 billion that year, with money gaming accounting for 86 percent of revenue.
In 2025, the Indian Parliament passed a law banning all online gaming involving money.

The Family Tragedy

Harish began betting online during the COVID-19 pandemic, starting with small wagers that escalated into heavy losses and borrowing. His father, Ranganaveni Suresh, 53, was a farmer who also ran a grocery shop, and his mother, Hemalatha, 45, worked alongside him. The family sold a plot of land to repay some of Harish's debts, but it was not enough, and Harish and his mother began working for a caterer to raise money. Mukesh Kumar, a cousin of Harish, said the family did not know how much money he had borrowed until people started coming to their house asking for their money back.

Online Gambling Landscape

India's online gaming sector generated about $3.7 billion in 2024, a figure projected to more than double to $9.1 billion by 2029. Gaming involving money accounted for about 86 percent of the industry's revenue in 2024. In 2025, the Indian Parliament passed a law banning all online gaming involving money, aiming to close regulatory gaps exploited by internet betting platforms. Despite the ban, smartphones, global connectivity, and a black market ecosystem have allowed online gambling to shapeshift and survive.

How Online Betting Works

Betting no longer requires a bookmaker, a cash transaction, or a visit to a betting shop; it can happen on a smartphone, often while a cricket match is playing and advertisements promising winnings appear on the same screen. For some users, a few hundred rupees lost becomes another wager to recover it, and that wager can become a loan, and the loan can become a debt that reaches far beyond the person who placed the bet. The first encounter with online betting does not always look like gambling; for a young cricket fan, it can begin with fantasy sports or a prediction game, framed around knowledge, competition, and skill.