A dispute over an iPhone ended with an entire family dead on a steep hill in western India.

Kunal Chandgude, his father Murlidhar and his mother Sangeeta died Friday at Khavdya Dongar near Tisgaon, in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

It began as an argument over a phone or the money needed to pay for it. It ended after a desperate three-hour rescue effort involving the family, villagers, police and fire personnel.

Warning: The video below shows a person in a dangerous position near a cliff and may be deeply upsetting.

The footage that first drew international attention to the case shows just how precarious the scene had become:

ADVERTISEMENT

Another video from the hill captures a different angle of the emergency:

The Times of India reported that Kunal reached the hill at about 10 a.m. and remained close to the edge until roughly 1 p.m. Local accounts put his age at either 18 or 19.

His parents followed him there. Residents, officers from the MIDC Waluj police station and fire brigade personnel joined them as repeated attempts were made to persuade him to step away from the cliff.

Rescue crews reportedly tried to position safety nets below. The effort was complicated because Kunal kept moving along the edge, forcing personnel below to adjust their positions.

Tisgaon sarpanch Sanjay Jadhav said he and others appealed to Kunal to think of his mother and offered to get him what he wanted if he would return to safety.

The pleas did not break through. Murlidhar eventually moved close enough to try to pull his son back.

One current account relays Jadhav’s eyewitness description and shows images from the rescue scene:

TV9 Hindi reported that Murlidhar reached his son at about 1 p.m. and tried to pull him away from danger after police, firefighters and villagers had spent hours trying to de-escalate the crisis.

Both father and son then went over the edge during the rescue attempt. Some accounts say Kunal jumped as his father reached him; others describe the two losing their balance.

ADVERTISEMENT

What happened immediately afterward was just as devastating. After seeing her husband and son fall, Sangeeta also went over the edge as stunned rescuers and local residents watched.

All three died. The outlet identified Murlidhar as 48 and said the family lived in the Jhalta Phata and Deolali area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Police recovered the bodies and sent them for post-mortem examinations. Officers under Waluj police inspector Rameshwar Gade were interviewing witnesses and continuing the investigation.

Even the detail that sparked the confrontation has not been reported consistently.

Some accounts say Kunal had already bought an iPhone through monthly installments and wanted his parents to cover a payment he could not make. Others say he became distraught after they refused to buy the expensive phone.

That distinction remains unsettled. The core of the tragedy does not: a disagreement over a consumer purchase escalated into a mental-health crisis that wiped out a family within minutes.

A family video shared by a Marathi news outlet shows Kunal and his mother before the hilltop tragedy:

The Week reported that the standoff occurred under the Waluj MIDC police station’s jurisdiction and that the three deaths happened around 1 p.m.

The outlet also said Jadhav spent much of the three-hour ordeal speaking with Kunal while his mother continued trying to calm him.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fire brigade teams deployed safety nets beneath the cliff, but Kunal’s movement along the steep edge repeatedly complicated their attempt to place the protection where it might help during the final minutes.

Jadhav said the father arrived during the final phase of the standoff. The group hoped Murlidhar could keep Kunal engaged and guide him back, but the rescue attempt ended with both father and son going over the edge.

Police commissioner Pravin said investigators were still establishing the sequence. DCP Ratnakar Navale said the family had roots in Dhangar Pimpalgaon village in the neighboring Jalna district.

No phone is worth a life. And no argument, debt payment or moment of panic is beyond the point where help can matter.

If you or someone you know is in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Outside the United States, contact local emergency services or a crisis hotline in your country.

What are your thoughts?

NATIONAL POLL: Do You Still Have Trump's Back 100%? vote now

TAP HERE TO ADD YOUR VOTE

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.