Indian groom continues with wedding despite bullet wound

An Indian man shot on the way to his wedding went on to tie the knot despite having a bullet lodged in his shoulder.

The 25-year-old groom, identified in the Indian press as Badal, was travelling in a carriage amid a procession of family and friends when the attack occurred on Monday night in the south Delhi suburb of Madangir, The Hindu reports.

Minutes away from the venue, two unknown men climbed onto the carriage and fired a gun at Badal, wounding him in the shoulder. It is thought the attackers mingled with wedding guests to get close to the ceremonial chariot, before blending back into the crowd to flee the scene.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Due to the loud music, the young man “did not realise for a few seconds that he had been shot”, a senior police officer told The Hindu.

When Badal noticed that he was bleeding, “he got off the carriage and informed his parents, who admitted him to the hospital”, the Times of India reports.

There, he received the bad news that doctors “could not remove the bullet easily without major surgery”, says NDTV.

But the undeterred groom, “bandaged up, returned to his bride-to-be just three hours later and performed his wedding rituals”, the Indian broadcaster adds.

The next day, he returned to hospital for surgery to remove the bullet, which had become lodged between his shoulder bones.

Police are investigating the attack as attempted murder, saying that appeared to be a targeted act of violence.

“It appears to be a case of personal enmity but we are looking at other angles too,” the unnamed senior officer told The Hindu.