Maha hill tragedy: New video shows mother kneeling before son, begging him to step back

Kunal’s mother gets down on her knees and bows towards Kunal in an apparent attempt to plead with him.

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Another video has surfaced showing the desperate attempts by the teen’s mother and other people to persuade 18-year-old Kunal Chandwade to move away from the edge of Khavdya Dongar near Tisgaon, shortly before he jumped to his death on Friday.The over-three-minute video shows the mother standing on a lower stretch of the hillside, close to Kunal, and talking to him repeatedly.Kunal responds to her during the conversation, while others standing nearby also try to persuade him to move away from the edge.At one point, his mother sits down and points towards a helmet lying on the ground. Kunal responds by pointing towards the same helmet as the two continue their conversation.The camera then shifts to a wider view, showing several people in the area trying to talk to Kunal. The mother continues speaking to him, while others can be seen and heard urging him to step back.She then gets down on her knees and bows towards Kunal in an apparent attempt to plead with him.People around her ask her to get up as they continue trying to persuade Kunal to step back.As some people move towards Kunal, he remains near the edge. They retreat when he moves further towards it, while his mother appears to scream towards him and attempts to move closer again. Others then pull her back.The video also appears to show a policeman at the spot as the attempts to persuade Kunal continue.Kunal had reached the hill around 10am and remained near the edge for nearly three hours as his parents, villagers, police and fire brigade personnel tried to convince him to return to safety.Fire brigade teams had deployed safety nets below the steep cliff.According to local residents, Kunal was distressed after his parents refused to buy him an iPhone. His parents rushed to the spot after learning about the situation.Tisgaon sarpanch Sanjay Jadhav was also among those trying to persuade Kunal. Jadhav later said they repeatedly asked him to think about his mother and not take the step. He also offered to give Kunal an iPhone in an attempt to keep him engaged.Kunal eventually jumped as his father Murlidhar moved towards him in an attempt to pull him to safety. Both died in the fall. Kunal’s mother Sangeeta also died moments later.Police recovered the bodies from the difficult terrain and sent them for postmortem. Investigators are recording statements of witnesses and examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths.