Chennai: Online lottery addiction can prove deadly as has happened with a goldsmith's family at Villupuram in Tamil Nadu.
Financial ruin brought about by persistent buying of lottery tickets forced Arun Kumar, 33, to kill himself after poisoning to death his wife and three young daughters with cyanide-mixed drink.
The other four deceased are Arun's wife Shivakami, 26; daughters Priyadarshini, 5; Yuvasree, 3; and Bharathi, just five-month-old.
The tragedy happened on Thursday night at Sitherikarai area of Villupuram town, which is over 150 km south-west of Chennai.
Arun took the extreme step as he had had to sell his house after incurring losses to the tune of lakhs of rupees owing to reckless spending for online lottery purchase.
An enterprising man initially, Arun had constructed the house using his own earnings. However, his earnings plunged owing to meager work later on. This prompted Arun to try his luck in the three-number lottery and make money. He made some money initially, prompting him to invest all that he owned in lottery. Soon, he incurred huge debts and had to sell off his home.
After moving to a rented home, he put up a video on a WhatsApp group of goldsmiths. In the video, the youth said he has killed his wife and three children, and was about to commit suicide. On seeing the video, a few group members rushed to his home. However, by then, all of them had died.
Arun reportedly killed wife and daughters by mixing cyanide in juice and giving it to them. After ensuring that all four of them had died, Arun committed suicide by consuming cyanide-mixed alcohol.
As the incident created a furore, Tamil Nadu Law Minister C V Shanmugam ordered a probe into illegal online lotteries.
