India: Kerala man wins Rs10 million lottery hours before selling house to pay off debts

While being burdened by a major financial crisis, Mohammed Bava, 50, prayed for a little luck in his life and it came true. His prayers were answered in the form of a Rs10 million Kerala lottery, that too, just two hours before accepting the token advance for his newly-built house that was put on a distress sale.

A native of Manjeshwar in the north Kerala district, he was in dire need of money to pay back a debt to the tune of around Rs5 million he had borrowed from relatives and also a loan he had taken from a bank.

He had borrowed huge amount of money for the marriage of his two daughters and to adjust the losses he had suffered in the real-estate business. Now, with his home being filled with happiness and fortune, Bava decided not to sell his house.

"I won the lottery. So, there is no need to sell this house. When we get the prize, all our issues will be sorted out," Bava told reporters.

He said he was going through anxiety due to the loss he had suffered in the business. "But the Almighty finally showed me a way," Bava said.

The 50-year-old man had bought the Kerala government's Fifty-Fifty lottery tickets from a vendor on Sunday afternoon seeking a way to get out of the debt trap. "The result of the lottery was announced by 3.30pm on Sunday. Luckily, I got the prize. Earlier in the day, the buyers had informed us that they would come to give the token advance for my house by 5.30pm," the man, father of five children, said.

"But when they came, this house was full of people who came to know about the jackpot. The buyers said they were also very happy about the lucky win," Bava said.

Bawa said he was not a regular buyer of lottery tickets. "This particular ticket I bought out of sheer tension as I didn't know what to do," he said.

He said after paying his debts, he will spend the rest of the amount on the poor and needy.

• India