Teen, 19, and his parents plunge to their deaths from cliff after three-hour row over paying for expensive mobile phone ends in tragedy
A 19-year-old man and both his parents died after falling from a cliff in India following a three-hour dispute over an unpaid mobile phone bill. Kunal Chandude had reportedly bought an iPhone on instalments he could not afford, and when his taxi-driver father refused to cover the latest payment, he went to the edge of Khawadya Hill near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar threatening to take his own life, prompting a lengthy rescue attempt.
Police, firefighters and villagers spent around three hours trying to talk Kunal down and set up a safety net below him, but he kept moving out of reach along the 250-foot gorge. When his father, Murlidhar, 48, tried to pull him back around 1pm, Kunal fell, dragging his father with him, and his mother, Sangita, who ran a motivational YouTube channel with 29,000 followers, fell shortly after in what officials believe was a further suicide attempt. An investigation has been opened and the bodies have been returned to relatives following post-mortem examinations.
- Teen and both parents died falling from an Indian cliff after a phone bill row
- Father fell trying to pull son back; mother followed soon after
- Rescue bid by police and firefighters over three hours failed
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Instalment plans let people pay for a phone in smaller amounts over time, but the payments can become difficult to manage if they exceed what someone can afford. Arguments over money can become particularly serious when they coincide with a person expressing thoughts of suicide.
Khawadya Hill is near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The incident involved Kunal Chandude, his parents Murlidhar and Sangita, and local police, firefighters and villagers who took part in efforts to reach him; an investigation is under way.