A 12-year-old boy in Chitradurga district in the Indian state of Karnataka died on Saturday night while rehearsing an execution at his home, police said on Tuesday.
Sanjay Gowda, a seventh grade pupil of SLV School in Kolar city, was given the leading role of Bhagat Singh in a school play. Singh was hanged by the British government for fatally shooting police superintendent John Saunders.
The boy was home alone when the tragic incident took place. According to media reports, he was trying to recreate the original scene of Singh's execution and got a noose around his neck, which led to his death on the spot.
The school authorities have expressed deep grief over the boy's death and have cancelled the play. The police have recovered the body and sent it for a postmortem.