Lucky Indian man wins lottery right before selling house

• Mohammed Bava won 10 million rupees ($125,000) in a lottery.
• Most Indian states consider lotteries to be illegal, a few allow them.
• Mr Bava has become a celebrity in his hometown of Kasargod.

A friend informed Mohammed Bava that he had won 10 million rupees ($125,000; £106,000) in a lottery that he had been attempting to win for nearly a year.

When Mohammed Bava’s friend called to tell him some unexpected but pleasant news, he felt relieved.

This occurred on July 25th. Mr Bava has become a celebrity in his hometown of Kasargod in the southern state of Kerala four days later.

Most Indian states consider lotteries to be illegal, although a few, notably Kerala, allow them under stringent supervision and rules.

Mr Bava’s victory couldn’t have come at a better moment. He had large debts that he had accrued over time. He had been trying to repay money to his lenders, which had caused him and his family a great deal of financial and emotional hardship.

The family had decided to sell their home as a last resort to settle the loan. Mr Bava had almost reached an agreement with a buyer to sell his house just hours before the phone call.

On July 25, he was scheduled to meet with a prospective buyer at 5.30 p.m. to finalise the sale of his home and collect an advance payment.

But fate had other intentions, and he recalls the very moment his friend Ganesh called.

At 3.20 pm, he received Ganesh’s daily WhatsApp message with the day’s findings. His call came soon after.

“I was so relieved. I had run out of people to turn to for help,” “According to Mr Bava. “We were elated; there were no words to convey our feelings.”

Mr Bava is scheduled to receive 6.3 million rupees after taxes. It is uncertain when he will be able to get the funds. But he’s no longer concerned because lenders have ceased knocking on his door.

“The debtors have been quiet after I won. People clamour for money when you have none. But once they knew I finally had the money to pay them back, things calmed down,” he said.

The Bavas were a debt-free middle-class family once. Mr Bava worked as a contractor in the building industry, but work had dried up in recent years. After the Covid-19 pandemic reached India and the rest of the world in early 2020, things only got worse.

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