A 45-year-old man, who was portraying Lord Ram during a Ramlila performance in Delhi, collapsed on stage and died on Saturday. The incident occurred at Vishwakarma Nagar in the city's Shahdara area.
The victim was identified as Sushil Kaushik, a property dealer by profession. He was taken to a hospital where the doctors declared him dead, police said on Sunday.
A video of the incident went viral on social media platforms, where Kaushik can be seen delivering his lines when he suddenly clutches his chest and appears to be in distress. He then went behind the stage and reportedly collapsed there.
According to police, Kaushik suffered a heart attack.
In a similar incident earlier in January, a man playing Lord Hanuman in a 'Ramlila' fell at the feet of the person portraying Lord Ram and died on stage in Haryana's Bhiwani district. The man was identified as 62-year-old Harish. His performance was part of several events organised across Haryana to mark the consecration ceremony at the newly constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. During his performance, Harish was supposed to bow at the feet of the man playing Lord Ram's character.
While enacting the scene, Harish fell down at the feet of the man playing Lord Ram. As part of the act, a song was playing in the background and visuals showed Harish collapsing. Everyone thought Harish, who had been playing the role of Hanuman for the past 25 years, was taking blessings of Lord Ram and the audience even clapped. However, a few seconds later the people realised that Harish had collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest.