Ghaziabad police rule out foul play in 3 sisters’ suicide case

The DCP said they are awaiting forensic reports on the fingerprints found in the room and the handwriting in the suicide note

Ghaziabad: A detailed inquiry report ruled out any foul play in the death of the three half-sisters who allegedly jumped from the ninth-floor flat of a high-rise earlier this month, Ghaziabad police said on Monday.

Officials said school authorities told police the girls were admitted to their school in Shalimar Garden Extension 1 in 2018–19 and studied there for about one year before the Covid-19 pandemic set in, after which they stopped attending school. (HT Archive)

“The detailed inquiry report concluded that it was a case of suicide resulting from the family’s past and prevailing conditions and the girls’ obsession with online content,” Nimish Patil, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of trans-Hindon zone, told HT on Monday.

The DCP said they are awaiting forensic reports on the fingerprints found in the room and the handwriting in the suicide note.

The three girls, aged 16, 14, and 11, had locked themselves in the puja room of their ninth-floor flat before jumping out from the window one after the other around 2am on February 4.

Initial police investigation showed the girls spent long hours consuming Korean content and were heavily influenced by it.

“The girls considered themselves as Koreans and not Indians. They were urging their father to take them to Korea. Their father had confiscated two of their mobiles during the past 5-6 months, and this did not go well with the girls. They finally ended their lives and also left behind about 7-8 pages of notes written in a pocket diary,” said a police officer attached to the case inquiry told HT on Monday.

“The girls considered themselves to be Koreans and thus could not marry Indians. So, all these triggers probably led to the incident,” the officer added.

The DCP said the compiled detailed inquiry report includes statements from 14 persons: the girls’ parents, maternal grandparents and other relatives, two eyewitnesses, school officials where they previously studied, and their coaching teacher. “It also mentions that the door of the room from where they jumped was locked from inside,” he added.

Officials said school authorities told police the girls were admitted to their school in Shalimar Garden Extension 1 in 2018–19 and studied there for about one year before the Covid-19 pandemic set in, after which they stopped attending school.

Following the incident, the Ghaziabad police wrote to the state government urging a ban on five online gaming applications. The girls had mentioned the names of games in their suicide note, police said.