Three minor sisters died after allegedly jumping off the balcony of a ninth-floor flat in Ghaziabad early on Wednesday, with police intensifying probe into their mobile phone addiction and the influence of an online Korean game, officials said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Shalimar Garden) Atul Kumar Singh said preliminary investigation suggested that the sisters were addicted to a Korean task-based interactive "love game", and their parents had objected to their excessive use of mobile phones in recent days.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patil said further investigation revealed that the girls were influenced by Korean content and spent a significant amount of time on their mobile phones.
"Family members had restricted their mobile phone usage for the past few days, which left them distressed and may have triggered the decision (to take the extreme step)," he said.
The police received information around 2.15 am that three girls had jumped off the balcony of a ninth-floor flat in a tower of Bharat City under the Teela Mor police station limits in the Sahibabad area.
On reaching the spot, the police found that the girls -- Nishika (16), Prachi (14) and Pakhi (12) -- daughters of Chetan Kumar, had fallen to the ground floor and suffered fatal injuries.
They were rushed by an ambulance to a hospital in Loni, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.
According to the police, the sisters became addicted to online gaming during the COVID-19 period and had been continuously playing the Korean game, mostly together.
"The three did everything together - from bathing, eating and sleeping to going to school," ACP Singh said.
DCP Patil said the girls' education had been irregular and they had not attended school for the past two years.
Even earlier, their academic performance had not been satisfactory, he added.
He said it is still not clear when exactly the mobile phone and gaming addiction began, and the investigation is at an initial stage.
But it is evident that the girls were highly addicted to mobile phone usage, he said.
The police said the family had five siblings -- four sisters and a brother -- and the father had married twice.
All family members lived together.
The incident took place late at night after other family members had gone to sleep, officials said.
During the investigation, the police recovered a diary from the girls' stationery containing material related to the incident.
A note found inside read, "Read everything written in this diary, it is all here," accompanied by a crying-face emoji and a handwritten message saying, "Sorry papa, I am really sorry."
The police said the exact circumstances that led the sisters to take the extreme step are being investigated, and statements of family members are being recorded.