A Family Ends over a Phone: Gadget Addiction Gone Too Far? Experts Weigh In
Police said the parents and 19-year-old son died after rescue efforts failed when the teenager jumped from the cliff edge.
- On Friday, August 21, 2026, three family members died at Khawadya Hill in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar following a domestic dispute that ended in a sequence of fatal falls. The deceased were identified as 48-year-old Murlidhar Chandgude, his wife Sangita, and their 19-year-old son Kunal.
- Following an argument over a new mobile phone, Kunal climbed the hill around 10 AM, prompting his parents Murlidhar and Sangita to follow him to the hilltop in a desperate attempt to reason with him.
- Rescue efforts struggled as the teenager repeatedly shifted positions along the cliff edge, thwarting attempts to deploy a safety net. Former Tisgaon Sarpanch Sanjay Jadhav said, "We were trying to convince the teenager for almost three hours, but he was not in a condition to listen to anybody."
- When Murlidhar moved closer to console his son, Kunal jumped and his father fell while attempting to save him. Witnessing the fatal plunge, Sangita jumped from the hill moments later, according to police official Rameshwar Gade.
- The Waluj MIDC police registered accidental death reports and began a formal inquiry into the incident. Khawadya Hill remains unfortified despite a documented history of fatal incidents, with no official safety barriers implemented by local administration.
36 Articles
36 Articles
Police and firefighters tried for about three hours to avoid the fatal outcome on a cliff in Maharashtra.
Teenager and Parents Plunge to Their Deaths From Cliff After Fierce Argument Over Unpaid iPhone Loan
A row over the monthly instalments on a new iPhone ended with an entire family dead at the bottom of a Maharashtra gorge. An 18-year-old and both of his parents died on Friday 21 August 2026 after falling from a hill in the Tisgaon area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, in a case police have linked to a dispute over the young man's unpaid iPhone loan. The teenager had climbed to a cliff edge that morning following an argument at home, and h…
Family Of 3 Plunges To Death Over An iPhone Payment Dispute On A Maharashtra Hill
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 v…
‘I have to die’: Entire family of 3 wiped out over 19-year-old's iPhone demand as parents fail to move rigid teen
A 19-year-old jumped to death from Maharashtra's Khawadya Hill over iPhone demand as desperate pleas fail to move rigid teen. Entire family of 3 was wiped out in the fall from cliff.
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