Man dies after friends dare him to sit on box of fireworks

His friends promised to buy him an autorickshaw if he carried out the stunt

Representative: People hold fireworks at a ceremony to celebrate Diwali (AP)

A 32-year-old man in India lost his life after accepting a dare by his friends to sit on a box of lit fireworks on Diwali, according to the police.

The man, identified only by one name, Shabarish, reportedly sat on a box of exploding fireworks at the urging of his six friends as part of a risky wager during celebrations on 31 October in the country’s IT hub, Bengaluru.

The group, including Shabarish, was believed to be under the influence of alcohol at the time, according to reports. His friends promised to buy him an autorickshaw if he carried out the stunt, which involved sitting on the box as it exploded.

A video of the incident, now circulating widely on social media, shows the fatal explosion, with Shabarish collapsing to the ground after the fireworks went off beneath him. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.

“A case of culpable homicide has been registered and the six members of the group involved in the incident have been arrested and produced before the court,” deputy commissioner of police Lokesh Jagalasar was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

People light firecrackers on the occasion of the Diwali festival in Ahmedabad, India, 31 October 2024 (EPA)

He died while undergoing treatment on 2 November at the Victoria Hospital in the city. The police have arrested six people connected with the incident.

According to the police, the victim, a construction labourer, was roaming in the area after consuming alcohol, when he met the group known to him, who were setting off the fireworks.

They asked him to join them before issuing him the challenge at around 9.30pm. He sustained severe burn injuries to his buttocks, abdomen, and thighs before collapsing, reported the Times of India.

“Dinakar came and told me Shabarish had set off fireworks and sustained injuries,” his mother Vijaya told the outlet. “As my son was drunk, I believed his version. I rushed to the spot with my younger daughter and with the help of those youths, we rushed [him] to a nearby hospital.

“Around 1am, he was moved to the burns ward at Victoria hospital, where he died on 2 November,” she said.

It was while making the funeral arrangements for him, that the family learnt about the details of the incident.

“The incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed at one of the buildings,” she told the Indian national daily. “I was shocked to see the footage and realised that the youths had lied to me.”

A boy lights paper fireworks on the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in the outskirts of Delhi, India, 31 October 2024. (EPA)

According to Vijaya, Shabarish had gone to work as a construction worker and returned home for the Diwali celebration. “I wish he had stayed away for a few more days,” lamented the mother. “At least, he would have still been alive.”

This adds to the list of fatalities around fireworks in India.

Earlier, a 65-year-old man in India was lynched by three men after he objected to people setting off fireworks outside his home in Faridabad, located 28 km from the Indian capital, New Delhi.

In another case, a 42-year-old woman was beaten to death after she protested against fireworks in front of her house in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday night.

The woman, Kalawati, who had a longstanding dispute with her neighbour Durgesh Kumar, protested after his family set off fireworks in front of her home.

When Kalawati’s family opposed it, a heated altercation broke out, escalating to violence, reported the Times of India. Though Kalawati tried to mediate, she was attacked and sustained severe head injuries, leading to her death on the spot.