Fatal celebration: 12-year-old killed in jubilation firing

Some guests from the groom’s side started firing in the air; one of the bullets hit Waqas, the 12-year-old boy.

FAISALABAD:

A 12-year-old boy was killed on Sunday in jubilation firing at a wedding.

Sandal Bar police said Ali Waqas, a resident of Chak 30-JB, was accompanying his parents to a wedding ceremony in the village. They said when the bridegroom arrived, he went to see the welcome. They said some guests from the groom’s side started firing in the air. One of the bullets hit Waqas. He died on the way to a hospital.

Muhammad Akbar, a resident of the same area, said the groom’s family had been informed by the bride’s side to avoid jubilation firing.

Several bridegrooms and their relatives had been arrested for similar charges in the last week. He said when some people saw that some of the guests were armed, they were reminded again, but they did not listen to anyone.

He said the shooter first shot several bullets in the air. He said apparently the man firing the shots lost his balance and some bullets had gone in a horizontal direction, hitting the boy in the head.

He said the man had fled the scene while people rushed to the boy’s rescue. He said there was a chaos and guests started running in all directions.

He said some guests were later overheard saying that the man firing the shots was a drug addict.

The Sandal Bar station house officer said that the police had yet to receive a complaint.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th,2013.