K-pop is our life… not you’: Note lays bare rift in family

The note begins with an apology to their father – “Sorry Papa” – before escalating into a defiant declaration of identity

NEW DELHI

The note includes a revealing list of 19 games, shows, and YouTube channels that formed their insulated universe. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

In a heart-wrenching suicide note, three sisters who jumped to their deaths from their Ghaziabad high-rise on Wednesday declared that Korean culture and K-pop were their entire existence – “it was our life” – and said that they felt emotionally severed from a family that constantly mocked and criticised their love for Korea.

“As much as we wanted Korean actors and K-pop, we did not want you people [in our lives] at all,” wrote the girls, aged 11, 14, and 16, in a note accessed by HT. The document paints a picture of profound alienation, describing how they were “forced to accept things” they didn’t love, leading them to completely “turn away” from their family.

The note begins with an apology to their father – “Sorry Papa” – before escalating into a defiant declaration of identity.

“You’ll distance us from Korean [culture]. It was our life. How dare you separate us from our lives? … Now see for yourself,” they wrote, adding, “From today, we have completely separated ourselves from you people and told you that Korean and K-pop are our life, and you are India and Bollywood.”

This cultural rift extended to their 13-year-old half-brother. The sisters expressed a desire for him to join their world, but accused the family of steering him toward Bollywood, which they “hate the most.” They recounted trying to teach him about Korean characters, only to be scolded by their mother. “We then decided to make our brother our enemy,” they wrote.

The note includes a revealing list of 19 games, shows, and YouTube channels that formed their insulated universe. They were immersed in horror mobile games like Poppy Playtime, The Baby In Yellow, Evil Nun, and the Ice Scream series – games often featuring Korean-dubbed versions and involving escape from terrifying pursuers. They also watched the YouTube gaming channel “Techno Gamerz.”

Alongside this darker content, they listed famous and beloved cartoons such as Doraemon, Shinchan, Peppa Pig, and Masha and the Bear. Their artistic tastes spanned beyond Korea, encompassing “Thailand, American, London, and Japan based actors and shows.”

The final trigger appears to have been the removal of their digital lifeline – a phone. Their father, a stock market trader facing severe financial losses, had sold their shared smartphone and, days earlier, deleted their social media account which had amassed around 2,000 followers.

Furthermore, the girls alluded to physical punishment and a deep fear of forced marriage, writing they were “beaten up” and threatened with arranged marriage if they didn’t abandon their Korean obsession. “Should we live this life to be beaten up by you? No… death will be better than this,” they stated. “To get married to an Indian man… not possible.”

Investigators had said on Wednesday that the “dynamics in the household were complex” and that the girls were half-sisters with a common father, but two separate mothers (who were sisters). All the family members lived together in a 3BHK flat. The eldest girl was from the first wife, the two younger from the second.

The home was described as financially strained and socially insular.

The note ends as it began: “We are ending our lives… Sorry Papa.”