Last Updated on September 7, 2026 by YeJahan
YEJAHAN DESK
SRINAGAR (Sept 6): Payal Devi, a 21-year-old woman, leaped into the fast-flowing Chenab River from the Shiva Dal bridge near Prem Nagar on Saturday afternoon (Sept 5). Moments before taking her own life, she waved and said ‘bye-bye, papa’ over the phone. A viral video clip of the incident has shaken the Doda district of Indian held Jammu & Kashmir, leaving her family shattered.
According to family, Payal left her home to attend a local mela. Later that afternoon, she called her father, Krishan Lal, to tell him she felt unwell and was heading to a local doctor. When she found the doctor’s clinic closed, she turned back. Shortly after, the situation took a terrifying turn. A fellow commuter noticed Payal walking determinately toward the river and frantically called her father to warn him.
#BREAKING: 🇮🇳 Payal Devi, 21, told her dad "Bye-bye, Papa
— Twilight (@TwilightDewy) September 6, 2026
This is my own life" then jumped into the Chenab
Hidden struggles kill#JammuKashmir #India #MentalHealth #Suicide https://t.co/HjSKnB8Cy0 pic.twitter.com/IOgHF3SKOO
Krishan Lal immediately called his daughter back, desperately pleading with her to tell him what was wrong and asking if anyone had harmed her. Payal’s responses were final. “Nobody should come near me,” she insisted. As her father kept begging for answers, she spoke her last words to him: “No, papa. This is my own life. My heart tells me that I should go this way. Bye-bye, papa.”
By the time she reached the Shiva Dal bridge around 2:00 PM, passersby noticed her distress and tried desperately to talk her down. The agonizing final moments were captured on a mobile video by an onlooker. In the footage, Payal can be seen smiling at the camera, blowing a final kiss to her father on the phone, waving her hand, and plunging into the heavy river currents.
Local police, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local volunteers quickly launched a massive search and rescue operation. However, despite intense and continuous efforts along the treacherous river, no trace of Payal has been found. Authorities are continuing their investigation to piece together exactly what caused her severe distress in those final hours.
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