Chandigarh, Dec 4 (IANS): A 22-year-old dancer at a marriage function in Punjab's Bathinda district, was killed when a drunk man, enraged at being refused a dance, fired at her from close range, police said on Sunday.

The victim, Kulwinder Kaur, had refused to dance with a guest who was drunk and was carrying a weapon from which he fired at her in a rage.

Police have registered a case of murder and booked four people, including the alleged killer, the marriage palace owner and two friends of the killer.

Station House OFficer (SHO) Daljit Singh said that the accused was absconding after the incident.

The incident took place late on Saturday evening during a marriage function at Aashirwad Marriage Palace in Maur Mandi town of Bathinda, nearly 200 km from here.

Kulwinder Kaur, who was reportedly two months pregnant, fell on the stage even as her colleagues of the dance and orchestra troupe continued their performance. They realised only moments later that she had collapsed.

Carrying of weapons is banned under law during marriage functions and at marriage palaces.

In an incident last month, a self-styled godwoman, Sadhvi Dev Thakur, and her accomplices had gone on a firing spree during a wedding function near Karnal town in neighbiuring Haryana, leaving a woman guest dead and two others injured.