A groom was shot and killed on his wedding day after the man’s best friend fired a gun in celebration — and the tragic death was all caught on video.
The incident happened this weekend in India. As the New York Post reported, newly married Sunil Verma was celebrating his wedding with a group of friends and family when one of the revelers held a handgun. Two rounds could be heard and the video showed the groom immediately flinching in pain as guests ran toward him.
The video does not show the aftermath of the wedding reception shooting, but The Times of India reported that the 25-year-old groom died shortly after arriving at a hospital.
As the report noted, firing off a handgun in celebration is a tradition at many Indian weddings, even though the practice has been outlawed. There have been other deaths from accidental wedding shootings, and the New York Post noted that a 20-year-old man was killed at his cousin’s wedding the same day as Verma’s death.
There have been many other instances of fatal wedding reception shootings both in India and the Middle East. As the BBC reported earlier this year, an Indian woman was killed by celebratory gunfire at a wedding. The father of the bride reportedly fired off a gun to celebrate his daughter’s marriage, and a round struck and killed 22-year-old Sakshi Arora. The father was arrested along with another man who discharged a gun at the wedding reception, and police said both men were careless and should have known the dangers of firing a weapon in a group of people.
There have been other tragic incidents, the BBC noted. In November 2016, a wedding guest was killed and three others critically injured when a woman fired a gun on the dance floor. The following year, an 8-year-old boy was killed by celebratory gunfire at another wedding.
Indian groom killed at wedding by celebratory gunfire https://t.co/iJePbsOOGM pic.twitter.com/5r6CBbuZeg
— CNA (@ChannelNewsAsia) May 1, 2018
Police said the shooter in this week’s wedding shooting, a man identified as Ramchandra, fled after the shooting but was caught two days later in a neighboring town. Police said the man has confessed to the shooting and handed over his handgun to police. He will face a charge of murder, The Times of India reported.
