Inside, his mother was making dinner. His uncle tended to the other child. Outside, the oblivious baraat danced on.
Panic gripped the house. Screams, swallowed by sheer horror. They rushed him to the hospital, his 34.8-inch body cradled in desperate arms. But the doctors’ words were final. Their only son was gone. And in his place—numbness.
“My only son is gone. All I want now is for no other parent to go through this,” Vikas Sharma said, his voice heavy with the weight of that night.
Beneath the flashing lights and thunderous music of the big fat Indian weddings, is a deadly custom: gunshots. What was once a symbol of festivity in open fields has now become a silent killer in crowded lanes, turning moments of happiness into nightmares. Stray bullets claim innocent lives, children watching from balconies, unsuspecting guests in a crowd, or brides and grooms caught in the very rituals meant to celebrate their union.
Over the last month, Noida and Ghaziabad have reported over five accident cases due to celebratory firing – a ritual of machismo and might that plagues many rural and semi-urban pockets of north India. Despite stricter laws under the Arms (Amendment) Act 2019, enforcement remains weak, and justice often slips through the cracks. Bollywood movies have only reinforced this culture of celebratory firings. Scenes of joyous wedding processions marred by gunfire are scattered across films like Tanu Weds Manu (2011), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Omkara (2006), and Bandit Queen (1994). What the big screen glorifies, reality often turns tragic.
In places like Noida and Ghaziabad, families bear the weight of this recklessness, a father mourns a lost son, and another waits anxiously outside a hospital.
The Arms (Amendment) Act, of 2019 introduced stricter firearm regulations. The law bans guns at weddings and public gatherings, making celebratory firing a punishable offense. It also enforces harsher penalties for illegal firearm possession, with sentences ranging from seven years to life imprisonment. Additionally, individuals can now own only two firearms instead of three, and tougher measures have been introduced to combat arms trafficking and illegal weapons manufacturing.
“In over 60 per cent of cases, illegal weapons like tamanchas (home-made pistols) are used”
Despite these laws, incidents persist and enforcement remains a challenge. In a recent case in Ghaziabad, groom Himanshu Chaudhary fired celebratory shots alongside his friend at his wedding. He was arrested under Section 51 and spent three days in jail before securing bail.
“If people start using logic, they will realise celebratory firing is pointless and dangerous. It risks lives and should be stopped. This isn’t new—it’s just being reported more in NCR now. In over 60 per cent of cases, illegal weapons like tamanchas (home-made pistols) are used, often passed down through generations, making them hard to trace,” said Noida DCP Ram Badan Singh.
