Three sisters died earlier this week after jumping from the ninth floor of their apartment building in Ghaziabad, outside New Delhi, India.
According to heartbreaking reports confirmed by their family, the girls had become “addicted” to an online game and had recently been “denied access” to phones. NDTV say that their deaths have not officially been tied to the game in question, while Press Trust of India (PTI) report that they left behind an eight-page note.
At around 2:15a.m. local time on Wednesday, February 4, authorities responded to calls that “three girls had jumped from the balcony of the ninth floor”.
“Upon reaching the scene, an investigation was conducted, revealing that three girls — Nishika, aged approximately 16 years, Prachi, aged approximately 14 years, and Pakhi, aged approximately 12 years — daughters of Chetan Kumar, had died due to falling on the ground floor,” the police explained in a post on X.
“When we reached the scene, we confirmed that three girls, daughters of Chetan Kumar, had died after jumping from the building,” a police official said, as per NDTV.
Prior to jumping, the sisters reportedly left behind a heartbreaking note that read: “Read everything written in this diary, it is all here…”
It was accompanied by a crying face emoji and a handwritten message: “Sorry papa, I am really sorry.”
The diary was recovered from the girls’ belongings. Authorities say the sisters did not attend school and had been at home for the past two years.
Grieving father Chetan Kumar, a forex trader, has two wives, both sisters, and there were five children in all. The entire family lived together.
PTI report that the girls had become obsessed with a “Korean game that involved a series of tasks”.
“They had been playing the game for two-and-a-half to three years,” Chetan Kumar told PTI.
“They often said they wanted to go to Korea.”
Their addiction to phones had allegedly worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patel telling NDTV: “For the past few days, they had been denied access to a mobile phone, a restriction that appeared to have affected them.”
“This should not happen to any parent or child,“ Chetan said. “I was not aware of the game, or I would have never let them play it.”
Rest in peace, Nishika, Prachi, and Pakhi.
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