Coronavirus Scare: Man Shoots Friend For Sneezing While Playing Board Game

A man shot his friend for sneezing while playing a game of Ludo. The incident took place at Greater Noida, India, on Tuesday.

According to police, the man, who has been identified as Prashant, took out his gun and shot his friend following an altercation over the latter sneezing while playing Ludo with two other people. The victim was seriously injured in the incident.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, released a statement regarding the incident Wednesday.

“On Tuesday, a man shot at his friend following an altercation over sneezing while playing Ludo game with two others. The police have registered a case in this regard,” DCP Noida said.

He also explained that the victim, who has been identified as Jaiveer, sneezed while playing the game after which, the suspect angrily confronted him, asking if he was trying to spread coronavirus. Following this, the victim pretended to sneeze again and said, "Yes, take this corona."

Both of them reportedly got into a heated argument during which, the man opened fire at the victim using a country-made pistol, and critically injured him.

Following the incident, people in the area gathered around the spot. Police officers soon arrived at the scene and rushed Jaiveer to the hospital. The condition of the victim was reportedly stable.

In a similar incident that took place in March, a 28-year-old man, who was identified as Rajesh Laxmi Thakur, killed his younger brother, Durgesh, for stepping out of their home despite repeated warnings about the lockdown which was imposed to curve the spread of COVID-19 in India.

As of Thursday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India has reached 12,456 with a death toll of 423. Meanwhile, the number of cases worldwide has reached 2,065,906 whereas, 517,444 have recovered from the virus.