Deepak’s family had spent years urging him to abandon the profession.
A circus artist, the 27-year-old belonged to the semi-nomadic Nat community of traditional acrobats, rope-walkers and travelling performers, whose livelihood has for generations depended on drawing crowds with feats of physical daring.
But as audiences dwindled and earnings shrank, fellow performers said many troupes were forced to attempt increasingly dangerous acts to survive.
On July 23, one such performance in Haryana’s Nuh district ended in tragedy. Deepak died after remaining buried underground for three days during a “live samadhi” stunt in Khori village in Tauru block.
At his home in Gaunchi, a village on the periphery of Faridabad, his elder brother, 29-year-old Sunet, said everyone in the family opposed the work.
Sunet himself had performed similar burial acts for nearly 15 years before quitting two years ago. “I walked away after realising how dangerous the stunts were becoming.”
He said he could not understand why his brother remained inside the pit for so long. “The act should last no more than a day,” he said.
A member of the troupe, who requested anonymity fearing police action, said Deepak had successfully performed the “live samadhi” act several times before, with the burial usually lasting between 18 and 24 hours.
But things did not go according to plan.
“This time, we were getting lower collections than usual. So we waited three days before bringing him back up,” he claimed. “It cost his life.”
A risky act
According to police, the performance had begun like numerous others.
Deepak first performed feats of precarious balance: riding a bicycle without touching the handlebars, standing upright on its frame, and circling the improvised ring to gather onlookers.
The finale was meant to be his underground burial — wrapped in a jute sack and covered under mounds of earth — with the audience promised the spectacle of watching him emerge alive.
When fellow performers dug him out on July 26, three days later, police said Deepak was unresponsive. He was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, officials said.
Tradition under strain
The tragedy has cast a long shadow over the community, villagers said.
For generations, the Nat community has travelled across villages in southern Haryana, pitching tarpaulins on vacant plots and setting up makeshift arenas. Elders in Tauru recalled moving from settlement to settlement, timing their arrivals with local harvest seasons and rural fairs.
But with smartphones and digital entertainment reaching even remote villages, they said audiences for traditional village circuses have dwindled sharply.
“To hold a crowd’s attention long enough to pass around a plastic bowl, troupes feel forced to raise the stakes with increasingly dangerous stunts,” Tauru villager Shehzad, 45, said.
“For an entire day of gruelling physical performances, a troupe typically collects no more than Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 in small bills, a modest pool that gets split across multiple households,” he added.
Azim, a former travelling performer of a different group, currently staying in Ballabgarh, said travelling groups are no longer the novelty they once were. “Only very young kids or elders show up to see it these days.”
According to Shehzad, performers attempting the burial act rely on years of breath-control practice to conserve oxygen in tight spaces, puncturing tiny holes in burlap sacks and poking thin wooden rods through loose topsoil to create crude air channels.
Even then, he said, the act’s success hinges on strict time limits, keeping burials brief and under constant watch.
Admin response
According to Inspector Rakesh Kumar, the Station House Officer of Sadar Tauru, no complaint has been filed yet. He added that inquest and post-mortem proceedings have been completed, which ruled out foul play as the death was caused by suffocation.
District administration officials said such life-threatening public performances are not permitted without authorisation and that a probe will be conducted.
Police officers said they were occupied with security arrangements for the Jal Abhishek Yatra scheduled for Monday and had not received any instructions for a separate probe into the alleged lack of permission for the event.
“It was an unfortunate incident. The troupe had been performing for around 10 years,” Nuh police spokesperson Krishan Kumar said.
The pit in which Deepak was buried for three days in Haryana's Nuh district. (Express) 
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