Delhi News: 56-year-old man playing Rama dies of heart attack during Ramleela performance

In a tragic incident, a 56-year-old man died after he suffered a heart attack on stage while performing a role of Lord Rama at a Ramlila event in Delhi.

The incident took place on Saturday in Vishwakarma Nagar of Delhi’s Shahdara.

The deceased was identified as Sunil Kaushik. He was a property dealer.

Rahul Kaushik, a family member, told PTI that Sunil was one of the founding members of the "Jai Shri Ramlila" committee.

"Uncle had been performing the role of Raja Ram since 1987. He also used to sing," he said.

Sunil was performing Sita's 'swayamvar' scene which required him to break the bow, however, while singing a song, he felt a sudden chest pain and went backstage, where he collapsed, Rahul said.

A video of the incident widely circulated on social media showed Sunil performing the scene and then rushing backstage.

His wife and son, present there, rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was put on a ventilator.

After an hour, Sunil was declared dead, Rahul said.

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the death could be linked with COVID vaccine.

"It is a common discussion that after the COVID-19 vaccine, such cases are continuously appearing in India, where young people are dying of heart attacks while walking," he said in a post on social media platform X (formerly twitter) in Hindi.

On September 27, a 40-year-old engineer at the HCL Technologies Company died due to cardiac arrest in Mihan, Nagpur.

The engineer identified as Nitin Edwin Michael was found unconscious in the office washroom, following which he was taken to the AIIMS Nagpur for primary treatment, where he was declared dead upon arrival by the doctors.

A case has also been registered by Nagpur's Sonegaon Police on grounds of accidental death.

Following the incident, HCL Technologies issued a statement extending their condolences to the family members of the deceased employee and assured "all possible assistance" for them.