GHAZIABAD: Three minor sisters died after allegedly jumping off the balcony of a ninth-floor flat in Ghaziabad early on Wednesday, with police probing the role of addiction to an online Korean game, officials said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Shalimar Garden) Atul Kumar Singh said preliminary investigation has revealed that the sisters were allegedly addicted to 'love game', an online task-based interactive game, and their parents had been objecting to their excessive gaming.
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, located under the Teela Mor police station limits in the Sahibabad area, the ACP said.
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, he said.
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, often together.
"The three did everything together - from bathing, eating and sleeping to going to school," the ACP said.
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 as part of the probe.