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16-Year-Old Maharashtra Teen Jumps to Death After Mother Denies Phone

Authorities have opened an investigation into the latest phone-refusal suicide, highlighting scarce mental health support alongside growing digital pressures on adolescents.

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.