Boy dies as dad’s rifle goes off while posing for selfie in Bihar

PATNA: A 17-year-old boy died after his father’s rifle went off while he was posing for selfie on Thursday evening. The bullet hit Kunal Singh in his head at village Miliya under Manjhagarh police station area in Gopalganj district.
Police said Kunal was preparing for engineering entrance examinations in Kota and had returned home due to Covid-19 pandemic. He was rushed to hospital where the doctors declared him dead.
One Pramod Singh, who claimed to be their neighbour, told TOI over phone on Friday that he, along with others had rushed to Kunal’s residence after getting information about the incident. “Kunal’s family members and his relatives told us that he was taking selfie when the rifle accidentally went off,” he said.
However, Manjhagarh police station SHO (incharge) Dinesh Kumar Yadav said Kunal’s father Om Prakash Singh told the police that he was depressed after not performing well in an entrance examination a week back. “Singh mentioned this as a reason behind his son committing suicide. However, we will investigate the case from different angles,” he said, adding the rifle was licensed and had been seized.
The SHO said Singh is a contractor. “No suicide note was recovered from the spot. The door of the room in which the incident took place was open. One empty cartridge was recovered from the spot. A case of unnatural death has been registered on the basis of Singh’s application,” SHO Yadav said, adding the body was handed over to the family after postmortem on Thursday night.