Patna: In an unusual incident in Nalanda district, an 18-year-old student lost his life after a celebratory firing during a stage performance held to mark the funeral feast rituals, or “shraadh karma”, of a 75-year-old woman. The incident took place late Saturday night in Makhdumpur village where two brothers, Harendra Yadav and Ashok Yadav, had organised an unexpected dance performance by women dancers to honour the memory of their late mother, Janaki Devi.
While dance performances are generally associated with celebratory occasions, incorporating such entertainment during a death ritual is virtually unheard of in the region. The incident took a tragic turn when Anil Kumar, the son-in-law of the deceased, began firing into the air as the dancers performed around midnight. One of the bullets struck Ashirwad Yadav, an 18-year-old Intermediate student who was watching the performance. The bullet pierced his temple and he succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter. Ashirwad was identified as the son of Pramod Yadav, hailing from Bhawani Bigha village in the same district.
Amit Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Karai Parsurai police station, said the police were conducting raids to arrest the absconding accused.
Hilsa deputy superintendent of police, Sumit Kumar, said the accused held the dance programme shortly past midnight. “We received news of the death by firing on Sunday morning after which an investigation was launched. The body was sent for a postmortem and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team was summoned to collect evidence,” he said.