A teenager looking to get some extra money for himself and his family was electrocuted in a Haryana village after he climbed onto a roof to collect cash flung in the air as part of celebrations by guests in a wedding procession.

Police said the ‘baraat’ (wedding procession) was headed to a farmhouse in Tajpur village under the Murthal police station area late on Thursday night and 14-year-old Himanshu, who studies in Class 8 and is the son of daily wage labourers, was watching from a distance. When he saw guests in the procession throwing cash in the air, he began collecting the notes. 

Some of the money fell on a roof and when Himanshu climbed onto it to collect it, he came in contact with an electrical wire. His body caught fire because of the current and one of his feet got separated. By the time the teenager was finally flung away by the current, he was already dead.

Police reached the spot and took custody of the body. It was handed over to his family after a post-mortem.

Satish Kumar, the investigating officer in the case, said, “Information was received about the death of a teenager due to electric shock near a farmhouse in Tajpur. During the wedding ceremony, the ‘baraatis’ were throwing money to express their joy. The teenager got an electric shock while he was collecting the notes. He died on the spot. The post-mortem of the body has been done and it has been handed over to the family.”