Suicidal son takes parents with him in death plunge

A suicidal teenager and his parents, trying to help him, all died in a fall from a clifftop after a three-hour attempt to persuade the young man to move away from the edge in India’s Maharashtra state. 

The tragedy occurred at Khavda Hill in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district on Saturday after the 18-year-old, from the Devlai area, went to the hilltop around 10am and threatened to take his own life.

It was widely reported on X and India’s NDTV channel.

Villagers, tourists and police gathered at the scene and spent three hours trying to persuade  him to step away from the edge. Witnesses said his mother repeatedly appealed to him to consider his future and the impact on his family, but he remained distressed and refused to move.

During the final 15 to 20 minutes of the ordeal, the teenager’s father climbed up the hill to try to intervene directly, after initially speaking to his son from below.

About 1pm, the father attempted to pull his son away from the edge. The pair lost their balance and fell from the hill. In the confusion that followed, the mother also fell while attempting to reach them. They all died.

Videos of the prolonged confrontation were posted by tourists and local residents.

Eyewitness Sanjay Jadhav said the family and other people at the scene had made repeated efforts to persuade the teenager to reconsider.

“Everyone tried very hard to make him understand, but he would not listen,” Jadhav said, adding that police officers were also present and attempted to intervene.

Jadhav said the mother had repeatedly pleaded with her son not to harm himself.