Bride Killed By Stray Bullet At Own Wedding Party After Celebratory Gunfire By Guest

A young bride in Iran tragically died after she was hit by a stray bullet when a guest fired a celebratory gunshot during the wedding celebration, reports said.

The 24-year-old psychology graduate Mahvash Leghaei was shot in her head on July 12, during her wedding, after a 36-year-old guest, identified as one of the groom's cousins, used an unlicensed hunting rifle to fire celebratory gunshots, NY Post reported.

Though common custom in the Middle East, it is illegal to fire gunshots during a wedding in Iran. The first gunfire went off without any incident, but when the guest fired the second shot, it reportedly went through Leghaei’s skull and brain before hitting two male guests.

The other two people survived the incident, but the bride went into a coma and succumbed to her injuries.

"We had an emergency call of a shooting at a wedding hall in Firuzabad city and officers were dispatched immediately," a police spokesperson, Colonel Mehdi Jokar, told Newsflash.

“The officers discovered that somebody had fired shots with a hunting rifle as part of the local nomad tradition, but unfortunately because of the crowds and the person’s poor control of the weapon, he managed to shoot three people – two men and the bride," Jokar said, News.com.au reported.

The shooter reportedly fled the scene after the incident and was taken into custody later, according to reports.

“Naturally, any disturbance of public order like this crosses the red line with the police, and people need to know that to create a safe community, shooting is banned at weddings," Jokar said, adding that tough measures would be taken against those who violate the rules.

Ceremonial gunfires were traditionally carried out by skilled people, but over recent years, the aerial firings have been executed by unskilled guests, and that has often led to similar tragedies.

A month ago, a groom in India unintentionally killed a member of his wedding party while he shot ceremonial gunfire during the marriage celebration. The groom, Manish Madheshia from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, fired a few rounds from an open chariot during the wedding procession and the stray bullet accidentally struck his guest, 35-year-old Babulal Yadav, killing him.