Three sisters died this week after jumping from the ninth floor of their apartment building in India, local authorities and their family said.
The girls are suspected to have become “addicted” to an online game and were recently “denied access” to a phone, the NDTV news network and the Press Trust of India reported, citing police.
However, their deaths have not yet been tied directly to the game, according to NDTV.
Around 2:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Feb. 4, officials responded to reports that “three girls had jumped from the balcony of the ninth floor” of an apartment building in Ghaziabad, outside New Delhi, police said on X.
The girls were identified as sisters Nishika, 16, Prachi, 14, and Pakhi, 12. The eldest victim’s name has also been identified as Vishika, per NDTV.
“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, NDTV reported.
An investigation is ongoing.
Authorities believe the sisters jumped from the balcony one after another and left an eight-page note in a diary addressed to their parents, NDTV reported.
Their father, Chetan Kumar, told NDTV the note described their love of online gaming and what appeared to be an intense interest in Korean culture.
PTI reported that the girls were focused on a “Korean game that involved a series of tasks,” adding that they spent most of their time at home and had not attended school in two years.
“They had been playing the game for two-and-a-half to three years,” Kumar told PTI.
“They often said they wanted to go to Korea,” he said.
According to NDTV, the sisters’ phone use worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patel told NDTV that “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,” Kumar told NDTV, adding, “I was not aware of the game, or I would have never let them play it.”
Patel also told NDTV that investigators have not identified a specific game so far, but said it appeared the girls were influenced by Korean culture.
