Overview
- Atharva Gopal Tayde, 16, plunged from Khawda hill in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on August 4 after his mother refused his repeated requests for a mobile phone, officials said.
- Local residents rushed Tayde to a Tisgaon hospital where doctors declared him dead upon arrival, prompting Maharashtra Police to investigate his death.
- Tayde was preparing for the police recruitment examination and had sought a smartphone in the face of intense study pressures, according to authorities.
- His death marks the latest in a series of phone-refusal suicides in Maharashtra since July 2024, including earlier cases in Navi Mumbai and Miraj.
- Mental health experts warn that rapid youth smartphone adoption and family financial limitations, coupled with limited support services, heighten the risk of self-harm among digital-age adolescents.