Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
“Please, live for your mother’s sake…” was what the village sarpanch told an 18-year-old man who stood on the edge of a hill in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Friday, in a desperate plea to bring him away from the edge.
The teenager, a resident of the Devlai area, climbed the hill around 10 am following a heated argument with his father over an iPhone instalment. The trouble began at home, where his father, Murlidhar Chandgude, clashed with Kunal over payment for the phone. Upset by the confrontation, the young man left the house and climbed the hill in anger, refusing to come down despite mounting pleas.
For nearly three hours, the sarpanch, along with the boy’s parents and other villagers, tried everything to talk him down. Words of comfort. Promises of getting him whatever he wants. Nothing worked. The horror ended with the deaths of all three members of the family.
“Ae bhai, main gaon ka sarpanch hoon. Chal! Are kuch bhi… pagal… chal chal, jo chahiye wo laakar denge. Gaon mein… chal (Come on! Hey, whatever it is… you’re being crazy… come on, we’ll get you whatever you want. Back in the village… just come down.)”
When the boy did not budge, the sarpanch said, “Kya yahi samadhan hai ab? Koi samadhan nahi hai, tujhe kya lagta hai? par tumhare koodne se kiska… kya bahut bada naam hone wala hai tumhara? Maa ke liye jee lo na! (What will you achieve by jumping? Please, live for your mother’s sake!)”
The teen replied, “No, I have to die. That remains the only way.”
The teenager’s father had been appealing to his son from below for much of the ordeal but climbed up to the hilltop in the last 15 to 20 minutes as the situation grew more desperate. Police officers at the scene also tried to reason with the young man, but their efforts, like everyone else’s, did not succeed.
At around 1 pm, as the teenager continued moving close to the edge, his father attempted to pull him back. The two lost their balance and fell. Moments later, his mother, watching in panic, also fell from the hill. All three members of the family died.
With inputs from Mohsin Sheikh
