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Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar iPhone EMI Deaths: A family of three died on Friday after falling from a hill in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra, in an incident police have linked to a dispute over instalment payments on a phone the teenage son had purchased. The deceased were identified as 18-year-old Kunal Chandgude, his father Murlidhar Chandgude (48), and mother Sangita Chandgude. The family resided in the Zalta Phata area, and the incident took place in Tisgaon, under the jurisdiction of Waluj MIDC police station.

An argument over money for an iPhone instalment ended in tragedy in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where an 18-year-old boy and his parents died after going to a hill in the Tisgaon area, police said.

The teenager, identified as Kunal, had reportedly purchased an… https://t.co/npxjhgJF7z pic.twitter.com/Dn9OFvuLOe

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Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar iPhone EMI Deaths – What Police Say Happened

According to police accounts, Kunal had purchased an iPhone and was struggling to keep up with the instalment payments. An argument with his father over the latest EMI reportedly preceded his decision to leave home and go to a nearby hill around 10 am. His parents, upon learning where he had gone, followed him to try and bring him back. Local residents, the village sarpanch, and later police and fire brigade personnel also gathered at the site and spent several hours attempting to persuade him to come down safely.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar iPhone EMI Deaths – The Fall

Around 1 pm, Kunal’s father moved closer in an attempt to bring him back from the edge. In the process, both lost their balance and fell. His mother, who witnessed the fall, went over the edge moments later. All three died at the scene, within minutes of each other. Fire brigade teams had deployed safety nets below the hill during the standoff.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar iPhone EMI Deaths – Investigation Underway & A Wider Pattern

Police have registered a case and are working to establish the full sequence of events. Officials have said the EMI dispute has been identified as the immediate trigger, but have not confirmed what role, if any, other factors may have played.

This is not an isolated case in Maharashtra in recent months. Separate incidents involving young people and disputes over mobile phone access — in Nagpur and Nanded — have also ended in loss of life, pointing to a pattern that mental health professionals say reflects underlying emotional distress and family pressure rather than the device itself.