Pathankot boy who shot himself while taking selfie dies

A 15-year-old Pathankot school boy who allegedly shot himself with his father’s revolver while taking a selfie, died in Ludhiana on Sunday.

A 15-year-old boy in Punjab’s Pathankot who allegedly shot himself with his father’s revolver while taking a selfie died in Ludhiana on Sunday.

Amandeep Singh in another selfie. (Photo: Family source)

Amandeep Singh, a student of Class 10 of Char Marla Quarter school, was purportedly attempting a selfie with his sister while putting a revolver on his head on Friday.

The gun went off, injuring Singh who was rushed to a private hospital. He was later moved to Apollo Hospital in Ludhiana.

Read | What drives people to put their life at risk for a selfie?

Singh’s body has been brought back to Pathankot and a post-mortem will be conducted, police said.

Several such incidents have been reported across the country of late. The Washington Post has reported that of at least 27 “selfie-related” deaths around the world last year, about half occurred in India.

In February, a teenager was run over and killed in Chennai as he tried to take a selfie in front of an oncoming train.

In January, Mumbai Police moved to crack down on dangerous selfies after a man drowned trying to save a girl who fell into the sea while snapping one.

A man was seriously injured in April by an elephant when he tried to snap a selfie with the chained animal at a festival in Kerala in April.

Read | Selfies gone wrong: India leads in number of ‘selfie related deaths’