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The woman bought a DDF draw each time her family visited Dubai. (Representative Image)
The woman, who lives in Punjab, struck gold by choosing the ticket number 3337 in the DDF series 461, which she purchased on May 3.
An Indian woman received cash from her husband as a wedding anniversary gift and decided to try her luck by purchasing a raffle draw ticket. Payal’s gamble paid off when she won the grand prize of $1 million (approximately Rs 8 Crore) at the recent Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire draw. The woman, who lives in Punjab, struck gold by choosing the ticket number 3337 in the DDF series 461, which she purchased online on May 3.
According to the Khaleej Times, Payal has been buying DDF tickets for the past 12 years and her lucky number has always been three. She bought a ticket each time her family visited Dubai, providing her children’s and husband’s names. The woman is currently unsure about what she will do with the money, but her priorities are securing her children’s future, helping her brother in Australia, and donating to her community.
The woman couldn’t believe it when she initially received the call from DDF organisers breaking the good news to her. However, when she claimed herself down, the first person she told about her win was her mother-in-law, who was at home with her at the time. Later, she informed her husband, Harnek Singh, about the jackpot win. She said, “I was so happy and tears of joy rolled out as I spoke to him.”
Speaking about her win, Payal shared, “The money I used to buy the winning ticket came from my husband, who gifted me Dh1,000 (approximately Rs 22,000) on our 16th wedding anniversary on April 20. I thought of buying a DDF ticket online with the money and I picked the ticket with the most number 3s in it. I used to buy DDF once or twice every year at the airport but I took exception last time when, for the first time, I bought a ticket online. It was a gift that kept on giving, the cash gift from my husband made us a millionaire.”
Revealing how she plans to spend the money, the woman revealed, “It’s still very early to decide. But, of course, our priority is to secure my kids’ future, to give them a really good education for a good life. I would also like to help my brother, who is in Australia and do some charity work within our Punjabi community.”
With this win, Payal has become the 229th Indian to win the jackpot.