(IANS)
NEW DELHI: Three minor sisters died after allegedly jumping from the balcony of a ninth-floor flat in Ghaziabad early Wednesday, with police probing the role of an online game they were reportedly addicted to. The sisters—Nishika (16), Prachi (14), and Pakhi (12)—used to play a Korean “love game.”
What is the ‘love game’?
The Korean ‘love game’ is an online, task-based interactive game. According to police, the girls had been playing the game excessively since the Covid-19 period.The father of the minors, Chetan Kumar, said the girls were unwilling to give up the game. “They had told me, ‘Papa, we cannot leave Korean. Korean is our life. Korean is everything to us. You cannot separate us from it. We will give up our lives.’ I have just seen the suicide note. This is very tragic. I appeal to all parents to be careful and ensure children do not get so deeply attached to games,” he said, as quoted by IANS.DCP Trans-Hindon, Nimish Patil, said that they found a suicide note in which no particular app was named, but it was clear that the three girls were influenced by Korean culture. Police said the girls had not attended school since the Covid-19 period and often played the game together. Their increasing dependence on the game had become a matter of concern for the family.Also read | 3 minor sisters jump to death from 9th floor in Ghaziabad; Korean task-based gaming app addiction suspectedAssistant Commissioner of Police (Shalimar Garden) Atul Kumar Singh said preliminary investigation suggests that the parents had objected to the girls’ continuous gaming. “The three did everything together — from bathing, eating and sleeping to going to school,” the ACP said, as quoted by PTI. The incident occurred in a tower of Bharat City under the Teela Mor police station limits in the Sahibabad area. Police received information around 2.15 am that three girls had jumped from the balcony of a ninth-floor flat. On reaching the spot, police found that the girls had fallen to the ground floor and suffered fatal injuries. They were rushed by ambulance to a 50-bed hospital in Loni, where doctors declared them dead on arrival. Police said the exact circumstances that led the sisters to take the extreme step are still under investigation.