Mother gifts mobile to teenage son for vlogging, youth dies trekking in snow for a reel, famished pitbull pup guards the body for 4 days

In a heart-wrenching testament to the bond between man and beast, a pet pitbull named Jonu stood a four-day vigil over the lifeless bodies of his young masters, 19-year-old Viksit Rana and 13-year-old Piyush, before being rescued by the Indian Air Force on Monday.

The cousins, residents of Malkota village, had set out on January 22 to the snow-laden Barmani range to film social media reels. Despite a "yellow alert" for heavy snowfall, the youngsters trekked past the Barmani Temple into treacherous upper reaches. When they failed to return by the following morning, a massive search operation was launched involving the SDRF, local police, and mountaineers.

A Final Chilling Call

As a blizzard blanketed the mountains in over three feet of snow, Viksit managed one final, desperate phone call to his family on January 23. In a faint voice, he told them his fingers were too numb to send a location and that he was desperately trying to keep a weakening Piyush warm inside a sleeping bag. Soon after, his phone went silent.

Four Days of Silence

While rescuers battled visibility issues and freezing winds, Jonu never left the side of the boys. On Monday morning, an IAF helicopter pilot spotted a single dark figure standing motionless in the white expanse. It was Jonu, famished and shivering, but alertly guarding the bodies of his "buddies."

"For over half an hour, the dog didn't leave its post," said a member of the rescue team. "He was wary of us at first, perhaps thinking we were a threat. It was only after gentle coaxing that he allowed himself to be carried away."

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A Family in Mourning

The tragedy has devastated the local community. Piyush had been sent to live with Viksit’s family years ago to ease the burden on his own large family, as his father suffered from mental illness. The two boys had grown up alongside their pitbulls, who followed them everywhere. After the death of Viksit's father, in a gesture of hope, Viksit’s mother had recently gifted the boys a smartphone, encouraging them to start vlogging. They had gone to the Barmani range on January 22, aiming to capture a scenic reel before untimely struck by a blizzard.

A second pitbull that accompanied the boys remains untraced. The bodies of Viksit and Piyush were airlifted and handed over to their families, with their final rites performed on Tuesday. Jonu, the silent witness to their final hours, has been returned to the grieving Rana family.

(With TOI inputs)