Feature
19-year-old married woman opts for ‘Chicken Dinner’ with PUBG mate
Ahmedabad: Online game Player Unknown Battle Ground (PUBG) has taken the world by storm and has spawned myriad situations and new highs in addiction.
Now take the recent case of this Ahmedabad woman, all of 19 and married with a year-old baby, who wants divorce from her husband, not because of any domestic feud or discord, but because of her immense indulgence in PUBG.
The case came to light when she called the 181 Abhayam women helpline seeking help to get divorce.
However, she did not mention this in the first place. She wanted to be lodged at a women’s observation home, away from her family and her parents, so that she could play at leisure with her gaming partner.
“The girl called 181 and told us that she wants to be at a women’s observation home as it is not working out with her husband nor she wanted to go to her parents’ home as they had taken away her cell phone,” says Falguni Patel, Coordinator at Abhayam.
“When we told her that she won’t be allowed to use her phone or to go out from observation home since it is supposed to be for the protection of women, she dropped the idea. Then she sought help to reach her friend, who she revealed much later during the counselling session, was her PUBG gaming partner whom she came into contact while playing the game,” Falguni Patel told media persons.
Her husband did not like her obsession with the game and refused to let her play, which caused tension between them and she decided to leave her husband and went to her parents. Even they didn’t like her addiction and took away her mobile phone.
Married woman wants divorce from husband for playing PUBG with mate:
Patel said the counsellors explained to her not to take such crucial decisions in a rush, just for the sake of a game as her marriage of two years, as well as the life of her child, was at stake.
“Our counsellors assured her to help her arrive at a proper matured decision, making her realize the future uncertainties and consequences since they encounter such cases often,” she added.
“During four hours of counselling, we advised her to give her husband and marriage a second chance. She agreed to it and we gave her a unique ID number for 181 helpline so that we could identify the case quickly and work accordingly, but she has not made any such attempt,” Falguni Patel said.
“Our counsellors also informed her parents and recommended that she needed psychological assistance to get over her addiction,” she added. Patel said this was the second case of a girl addicted to PUBG.
PUBG is an online multi-player battle royale game (available free on mobile platforms) developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole.
The game has been banned in Nepal, Iraq and some parts of India after reports of the adverse health impact on the players who played it for long periods.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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