A teenager and his parents died Friday when they fell from a cliff in India after an argument over payments for an iPhone.
Nineteen-year-old Kunal Chandgude had argued with his parents regarding payments for the device he bought and decided to walk up a hill in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar area, People reported Sunday.
His father and mother, who were identified as Murlidhar and Sangita, followed their son as he stood on the edge of the cliff and threatened to jump.
Video footage showed a man who was reportedly Kunal as he stood dangerously close to the edge while facing people nearby:
For several hours, first responders tried to convince him to step away from the cliff and go home with his family, but when his father moved closer to him to try and pull him away from danger, the pair lost their balance and fell over the cliff. The young man’s mother reportedly jumped to her death once she saw what happened.
Video footage taken from the opposite side of the hill showed the moment the two men fell, and seconds later another person plunging over the edge.
WARNING – GRAPHIC VIDEO:
Law enforcement officers recovered the bodies.
A witness told reporters the young man’s parents tried to make their son to move away from the cliff but he refused to listen to them or the police.
“The mother kept pleading with him not to jump,” the witness stated.
According to the International Business Times, “The case has struck a nerve in India because of what triggered it. Financing an expensive smartphone through monthly installments has become routine for young people across the country, and the pressure of meeting those repayments can fall heavily on households with limited means.”
“A single overdue payment, in this instance, sat at the centre of a confrontation that destroyed a family,” the article said.