It often begins with small bets or an initial thrill of winning, quickly followed by desperate attempts to recover losses. Before long, savings, business capital, and borrowed funds are sucked into online gambling platforms. Trapped in a cycle of debt, social shame, and unbearable mental stress, many find themselves facing extreme crises.

In recent years, a growing number of people in Bangladesh have taken their own lives after being ruined by online gambling, crushed by mounting debts and relentless pressure from creditors. Lured by the promise of quick and easy wealth, victims span all walks of life—from students and business owners to farmers, day laborers, expatriate workers, and government employees.

On July 19, Jabed Ali, a 55-year-old van driver in the Sadullapur upazila of Gaibandha, died by suicide. According to news reports citing police and local sources, Ali had been hooked on online gambling for months, accumulating nearly 500,000 taka (about $4,100) in debt borrowed from relatives and neighbors. After losing more money the night before his death, unable to bear the financial ruin and pressure, he hanged himself at his home.

An analysis by The Dissent of news coverage over the past three years identified at least 28 reported suicides linked to online gambling between September 20, 2023, and September 20, 2026. Given the limitations of keyword searches and unreported cases, the actual toll is likely significantly higher.

In addition to these 28 cases, media reports revealed at least six homicides tied to online gambling disputes, as well as the suicide of a wife following severe domestic discord caused by her husband’s online gambling addiction.

Age, Occupation, and Demographics of Victims

An examination of the news reports shows that individuals aged 26 to 30 and 35 to 39 accounted for a disproportionate share of the gambling-related suicides.

By occupation, unemployed individuals formed the largest group, with six deaths. Salaried workers and day laborers accounted for five deaths each, followed by four business owners and three farmers. Reported cases also included a student, a migrant worker, a lawyer, a rickshaw puller, and a photographer.

Geographically, Thakurgaon district recorded the highest number of cases, with four suicides, followed by Chittagong with three. Two cases each were documented in Dhaka, Gaibandha, Rangpur, and Rajshahi. Single incidents were reported across a dozen other districts, including Joypurhat, Comilla, Cox's Bazar, Jhenaidah, Jessore, Tangail, Natore, Nilphamari, Khulna, Panchagarh, Moulvibazar, and Pirojpur.

The data underscores that online gambling is not confined to any single profession, age group, or region. From young students and unemployed youths to seasoned workers, traders, and professionals, the financial and psychological devastation is widespread.

From Small Wagers to Debt Traps

Online gambling encompasses internet-based systems that allow users to place monetary bets on sports or digital casino games from home via smartphones or computers. Users typically sign up on unauthorized international websites or mobile apps using their names, phone numbers, and email addresses.

To understand how online gambling addiction takes hold—and why people continue betting despite repeated losses—The Dissent spoke with grieving relatives, neighbors, family members of active gamblers, psychologists, and cybersecurity experts.

On March 25, 2025, Ratan Chandra Debnath, a shopkeeper in Sundarganj, Gaibandha, died by suicide. A neighbor, Biplob Sarkar, said Debnath was introduced to online gambling by locals shortly after getting a smartphone. While he occasionally won small amounts early on, he lost most of the time, gradually draining his shop's earnings into the platforms.

To cover his mounting debts, his mother and relatives repeatedly scraped together borrowed sums ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 taka. Despite their desperate attempts to steer him away from gambling, Debnath could not break free, Sarkar recalled.

On the day of his death, a betel leaf trader left roughly 180,000 taka in cash at Debnath’s shop for safekeeping. When Debnath gambled away the money, he panicked. Though his family had helped settle smaller debts in the past, his relatives believe he feared they would be unable to raise such a large sum.

Debnath was the sole breadwinner for his family, leaving behind his wife and a young child, who now face severe financial hardship and uncertainty.

On April 20, 2026, Nahid Rana, a young cigarette sales representative in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila, died by suicide. A neighbor, Wahed Ali, said Rana had secretly taken up online gambling alongside his job, eventually losing not only his personal savings but also company sales receipts and funds borrowed from his father.

His father, Sadequl Islam, said the family was completely unaware of his addiction until company officials arrived at their home demanding unpaid money.

“We had no idea he was playing online games,” Islam said. “If we had known, we would have stopped him.”

A similar pattern of secrecy surrounded Tamal Roy, who died in Sitakunda, Chittagong. His brother, Shimul Roy, said Tamal had never mentioned gambling to his family or friends.

“We knew nothing,” Shimul Roy said. “He didn’t share anything with us. If he had, maybe we could have intervened.”

Shimul noted that he had spoken with his brother by phone just an hour and a half before his death without noticing anything unusual. It was only through a note recovered by the police that the family learned of his online gambling involvement.

Families Devastated by Addiction

The Dissent attempted to interview several active online gamblers. Because they declined to speak, interviews were conducted with their family members. Names have been withheld to protect the individuals from personal and social harm.

In Cox's Bazar, a man described how his younger brother, a high school graduate who worked for a private firm in Chittagong, had built a reputation as a prudent saver, accumulating between 800,000 and 1,000,000 taka over several years while contributing to his household and maintaining fixed deposits.

After friends introduced him to online gambling, everything changed. Starting with small wagers of 500 or 1,000 taka, he progressively liquidated his savings and fixed deposits to feed his habit.

According to family estimates, he lost nearly 2,000,000 taka in a single year—including about 400,000 taka over just two months. He also gambled away 170,000 taka obtained from his family under false pretenses and nearly 200,000 taka from selling a vehicle.

“He knows that continuing this way will destroy his future, but he can’t stop himself,” his brother said. “Whenever he wins big once, he convinces himself he will win again, and he keeps playing on that hope.”

After learning the young man was having suicidal thoughts, his family brought him home, restricting his smartphone access and ensuring he is never left unattended.

“This addiction doesn't just destroy one person; it devastates the entire family,” his brother said. “Our entire family is emotionally broken, and our parents have fallen ill.”

In another Cox's Bazar household, an expatriate worker in Malaysia said his younger brother had been addicted to online gambling for nearly two years. The brother had previously managed a family grocery store and mobile financial service agency, where he first became interested after seeing customers playing online games while conducting transactions.

By late 2023, what began with small stakes escalated into tapping business capital. The family discovered the problem only when he failed to reimburse customer balances.

“We took out a 300,000 taka loan to help him rebuild the business,” the older brother said. “But within two months, he lost that money, too.”

The family estimates his losses at 700,000 to 800,000 taka, though the true figure may be higher, as he also borrowed from relatives and acquaintances after draining business accounts.

Efforts to counsel, monitor, and re-engage him in business have failed. His family says that whenever he gets access to cash after a brief period of abstinence, he immediately returns to gambling.

“It started out of curiosity watching others win,” his brother said. “Then it reached a point where both the business and the family are virtually ruined.”

The Mechanics of Addiction

Syed Tanveer Rahman, an associate professor of psychology at Dhaka University, explained that online gambling is not merely an economic issue but a behavioral addiction. The unpredictable promise of winning stimulates the brain’s reward system, compelling individuals to keep playing even when outcomes are uncertain.

Initial small wins boost a user's confidence. When losses inevitably follow, players often place larger wagers in a desperate attempt to recover their money—a phenomenon known in gambling addiction research as "loss chasing."

Rahman noted that the convergence of financial ruin, mounting debt, social stigma, guilt, and the feeling of being a burden to one's family significantly elevates suicide risks. Because many gamblers hide their debt, situations often deteriorate critically before families realize what is happening.

Syed Zahid Hossain, a cybersecurity expert, highlighted that online gambling has evolved into a complex digital hazard. Users are lured through online casinos, sports betting, draw-based games, and various mobile apps.

Smartphones and internet access allow entry to these platforms from anywhere. Transactions are facilitated by mobile financial service agents, local intermediaries, digital wallets, cryptocurrencies, and international credit cards, making regulatory enforcement difficult.

In addition to sports betting on cricket and football, platforms feature slots, roulette, poker, and live casino games. Winnings are initially credited to virtual accounts and can be withdrawn as cash once platform-specific conditions are met.

Hossain added that the lure of fast money and early small wins encourages users to make larger investments. Subsequent attempts to recover losses lead to heavy borrowing and eventual financial collapse.

Law Enforcement Challenges

According to the Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.), its cyber unit investigated three online gambling cases between 2024 and 2026. Raids across the country resulted in the arrests of 17 individuals, including ring members, operators, and illegal transaction facilitators.

C.I.D. Officials noted that digital footprints indicate those arrested served primarily as local agents and financial intermediaries. Efforts to identify the primary masterminds behind the operations remain ongoing.

Jasim Uddin Khan, a special superintendent of police (media) at the C.I.D., told The Dissent that the Cyber Police Center maintains round-the-clock patrolling to identify and block gambling websites in coordination with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (B.T.R.C.).

“We have achieved several successes,” Mr. Khan said. “Multiple cases have been filed, arrests have been made, and numerous gambling sites have been identified and shut down.”

However, Khan acknowledged that existing capacity remains insufficient relative to the rapid spread of online gambling. “Online gambling is proliferating through many channels,” he said. “We are operating within limited staffing and resource constraints.”

He added that proposals have been submitted to higher authorities to expand cyber patrol staffing and infrastructure. “While complete eradication may be difficult, enhanced capacity will allow us to effectively bring online gambling under control,” he said.

New Legal Frameworks

On June 30, Parliament passed the Gambling Prevention Act of 2026, replacing the 159-year-old Public Gambling Act of 1867.

The legislation expands legal prohibitions beyond traditional gambling to encompass online gambling, digital betting, virtual casinos, sports betting, cryptocurrency gambling, digital wallets, and remote wagering.

Specific penalties, including imprisonment and fines, have been established for processing gambling transactions, acting as local agents for foreign platforms, using fake mobile financial service accounts, advertising gambling, and match- or spot-fixing.

Nevertheless, Hossain, the cybersecurity expert, emphasized that legislation and technological blocks alone cannot eradicate online gambling. When websites are blocked, operators often resume activities via alternative domains, V.P.N.s, proxies, or mirror sites.

He urged sustained public awareness campaigns through educational institutions, families, and media, alongside stricter monitoring by banks and mobile financial services to detect suspicious transactions.

Rahman, the psychologist, added that treating online gambling solely as a law enforcement issue overlooks crucial dimensions of the problem, arguing it should also be addressed as a public health and mental health crisis.

He stressed that alongside platform regulation, addicted individuals need prompt access to counseling and mental health services, while families should be educated to recognize early warning signs and respond with support rather than stigma.