The threat posed by a growing obsession for selfies and videos to gain recognition on social media only seems to be aggravating, with two youngsters losing their lives in the national capital after they were crushed under a speeding train while trying to shoot a stunt video between two railway tracks at Anand Vihar, east Delhi, on Sunday afternoon.
Shubham Saini and Yash Chindaliya, both aged 15, were class 10 students of the Aster Public school in Mayur Vihar.
Detailing the incident, Delhi Police officials said that Shubham and Yash, along with five of their friends studying at the same tuition centre, wanted to shoot a stunt and upload it on social media. For the purpose, they rented a DSLR camera for Rs 400 per day.
Times of India, in its report, cited the remaining five boys saying that they had chosen a spot between two tracks to take selfies with an approaching train in the background.
The group walked down to the railway track near Akshardham Temple where they decided that first two of them – Yash and Shubham – will perform the stunt on the railway track going towards New Delhi Railway Station.
They said they were so engrossed in shooting the video that when the train approached, they didn’t notice another train coming from the opposite direction.
The two boys, in a reflex action, jumped onto the other track fearing they would be crushed between two trains. They instantly came under the second train and died.
Before the accident, the group took selfies outside the temple, which Yash and Shubham did not find exciting enough, according to the other boys.
“We thought that the idea was fascinating and so decided to go to the tracks. We had seen many pictures clicked around railway tracks, and so we thought that we could get good ones if we go there,” one of the boys was quoted by Times of India as telling the investigating officer.
Yash’s heartbroken mother said that his son was preparing for his board exams and spent most of the time at home.
“He was a bright student and had an interest in photography. On Saturday morning, he clicked my pictures but deleted them when I insisted that he do so,” said Kamlesh, his mother.
On the other hand, Yash’s father Rajesh Kumar said that his son’s “craze for clicking pictures was only limited to the home. Saturday was the first time when he went out with his friends to click pictures”.
