Cousins die in snow, pitbull stands guard for 4 days

Chamba: For four days, paws buried in snow, Jonu stood guarding his buddies Viksit and Piyush. Neither hunger and thirst, nor the freezing temperatures could budge the pitbull from its vigil.On Monday, when IAF pilots and mountain rescue teams came looking for cousins Viksit, 19, and Piyush, 13, they found them frozen to death atop a hill in Himachal’s Chamba district, and saw Jonu standing guard. Famished, broken yet brave and alert. As if waiting for the boys to wake up and call him. For over half an hour, the pitbull didn’t leave its post. Again and again, the rescue team tried to nudge it away, but Jonu wouldn’t budge.

Eventually, it perhaps understood that the men were there to help not harm, and allowed itself to be carried away.Even then, Jonu watched from a distance, unmoving yet alert. A video of this tragic yet touching moment has been going around social media. The rescuers, too, were moved by the youngsters’ deaths and the dog’s loyalty.Viksit and Piyush lived in Malkota village, around 115km from Dalhousie and 60km from Chamba town.

According to Sanjiv Kumar, sarpanch of Sanchuiane village which covers Malkota, Viksit’s father Sanjay Rana had got two pitbull pups from a relative and gifted them to the two boys. The other pitbull was also with Jonu, Viksit and Piyush when they trekked up a hill last Thursday but hasn’t been traced yet, said the sarpanch.Piyush’s family had sent him to live with Viksit’s family years ago as his father is a mental patient and the odd work he does isn’t enough to feed the family of eight.Viksit and Piyush grew up alongside the pitbulls. And wherever they went, the pitbulls followed — not because they were trained to, but because they felt they belonged. Viksit’s father died last year. The family would usually migrate to lower regions during winters — but this year, they stayed back. “Viksit’s mother Neeta Devi spoke to me about 10 days ago. She said they would migrate to Indora (close to Punjab border, 200km away), but for some reason, they didn't,” said the sarpanchA few months ago, Viksit’s mother had gifted him and Piyush a smartphone and the youngsters started vlogging — hoping their voice would travel further than their feet ever could.On Jan 22, aiming to shoot a reel, the two youths set off for the snow-laden heights of Barmani range nearby. They trekked to Barmani Temple and then moved further into its upper reaches, known to become treacherous after snowfall. Bharmour SDM Vikash Sharma on Monday said there was a yellow alert for snowfall that day, yet the boys went on. That night, the weather worsened, and heavy snow blanketed the mountains.On Jan 23, when the boys didn’t return home, panic set in. Their families contacted the administration.

Officials said the area where the boys were believed to be filming was buried under more than 3 feet of snow. The administration launched a rescue operation involving police, SDRF, mountaineers and local volunteers, but fresh snowfall on Jan 23 made it extremely risky.On this day, Viksit managed to place a chilling phone call to his family, the SDM said. In a weak voice, he said his fingers were so numb that he couldn’t even send his location.

Gasping for breath, he said Piyush was growing weaker, and that he was trying to “bring him back by using a sleeping bag”.On Jan 24, visibility dropped further. The administration thought of using drones, but most local drone operators — who typically do wedding shoots — had moved to Pathankot and Nurpur due to the harsh winter. An official drone was available, but the operator lacked experience. With no helicopter available at that stage, hopes dimmed.On Jan 25, IAF deployed two helicopters. Multiple sorties were attempted despite the dangerous weather. On Jan 26 morning, a helicopter spotted a body lying in the snow, with a dog standing beside it. The pilots guided the search party, who retrieved one body and had it flown out.In the second sortie, Jonu was rescued. In another daring operation, the chopper pilots flew close to terrain until they managed to spot the other victim. By Monday afternoon, both bodies were handed over to their families. The last rites were performed on Tuesday.