In a deeply distressing incident that has shocked the community, three teenage sisters tragically jumped to their deaths from the balcony of their ninth-floor home in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. The event occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, around 2.15am, after their parents had confiscated their mobile phones.
A Family Shattered by Loss
The sisters, identified as Pakhi, aged 12, Prachi, 14, and Vishika, 16, were reportedly upset that their father, Chetan Kumar, had taken away their phones. According to local reports, the girls gathered at their balcony, bolted the door shut, and then jumped from the window one by one. Their screams were said to be loud enough to wake their parents, neighbours, and security guards at the apartment complex.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Atul Kumar Singh confirmed the devastating outcome, stating, "When we reached the scene, we confirmed that three girls, daughters of Chetan Kumar, had died after jumping from the building." Television footage captured the harrowing scene, with the bodies of the young girls on the ground outside the building as their mother wailed and shocked neighbours looked on.
Suicide Note Reveals Korean Culture Obsession
Police discovered an eight-page suicide note, written on the pages of a pocket diary, which shed light on the sisters' motivations. Their father, Chetan Kumar, described the contents, quoting, "They said: 'Papa, sorry, Korea is our life, Korea is our biggest love, whatever you say, we cannot give it up. So we are killing ourselves.'" He added, "This should not happen to any parent or child."
The note also included the line, "You tried to distance us from Koreans, but now you know how much we love Koreans." Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patel noted, "It is clear that the girls were influenced by Korean culture and have mentioned it in the suicide note." Visuals from their home revealed jottings on a wall in the girls' bedroom, such as "I am very very alone" and "make me a hert of broken (sic)."
Phone Addiction and School Dropout
The sisters' phone addiction is believed to have begun during the COVID-19 pandemic and became so severe that they decided to drop out of school two years ago. Deputy Commissioner Patel explained, "For the past few days, they had been denied access to a mobile phone, a restriction that appeared to have affected them." The girls were said to be so obsessed with Korean culture, including movies, music, and TV series, that they had even taken on Korean names.
Witness Account Suggests Accidental Fall
Later reports indicated that two of the sisters may have fallen accidentally while attempting to hold the third sister back. A resident, Arun Singh, witnessed the incident and shared his account with NDTV. He described seeing someone sitting on the balcony ready to jump and initially mistaking it for a marital dispute.
Singh recalled, "A small girl came and hugged the person sitting on the railing tightly. Before I could get my phone and call someone to stop the person from jumping, all three - the person sitting on the railing and two girls trying to pull them down - fell off the balcony." He added, "One of them seemed determined to jump while the two others were trying to save them, but all three fell headfirst."
Delayed Emergency Response
After the fall, Singh ran to the ground floor and called the police and an ambulance, which, according to him, took an hour to arrive. He expressed frustration, telling the site, "In a country where pizza, burgers, and groceries are delivered in 10 minutes, it took an ambulance an hour to arrive. It is a sad reality." Singh claimed he made 10 to 15 calls during the ordeal. He did not know the girls or their family personally.
This tragic event highlights the profound impact of mobile phone addiction and cultural obsessions on young minds, raising urgent questions about mental health support and emergency response systems in the region.
