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‘Girls were depressed after…’: What police said on Ghaziabad sisters' suicide
The father of Ghaziabad girld purchased two mobile phones few months before the incedent but later sold it likely due to financial stress.
Investigation into the suicide of three minor sisters in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad has revealed the girls were depressed after their father took their mobile phones. The father reportedly took their phones after observing their obsession with the Korean culture.
The three girls, aged 16, 14 and 11, died after falling from the window of their flat on the ninth floor in Ghaziabad. The incident has sent shockwaves on the online gaming addiction and alleged obsession with the Korean culture.
The incident took place at 2 am, and a suicide note left by them points to their obsession with the Korean culture and addiction to online task-based games, PTI reported.
Father sold their phones
Their father reportedly purchased one mobile phone for the 16-year-old about three months ago, and another for the 14-year-old sister, around 15 days ago. In the days leading up to the incident, tensions escalated in the house as their father sold the phone that the girls used to watch K-dramas. After their father snatched the phone, the girls could not play online games and talk to their Korean friends, news agency PTI reported, citing police officials.
Earlier, the police said that their father likely sold the phone under financial stress. He also forced the girls to delete a social media account with around 2,000 followers, days before the suicide.
Also read: Gzb triple suicide: Cops await forensic analysis results of sisters’ note
The cybercrime team is trying to trace the buyers who purchased the mobile phones through the IMEI numbers, so the data from the Korean app can be found. Further, the police are probing the case from different angles, including their family situation and are waiting for the forensic results, the report said, citing DCP Nimish Patil.
Girls took their mother's phone on night of suicide
On the night of the incident, the half-sisters took their mother's phone, but could not access the Korean app on that device.
The forensic team that reached the spot seized the phone and did not find any access to the Korean app.
The fingerprints, including the handwritten suicide note and the messages, have been sent to the forensic science laboratory, and the police are still waiting for the reports.
Also read: Ghaziabad girls, who jumped off 9th floor of building, ‘thought they were Korean princesses’
Police interrogation revealed that their father has three wives, all biological sisters. While one wife is the mother of the 16-year-old, another wife is the mother of 14 and 12-year-olds.
The three sisters who died were closer to their father and even addressed him in their suicide note. They did not mention their mother anywhere.
Investigators have maintained that the case is being treated as a suicide, and the probe is aimed at verifying the father's claims regarding alleged online gaming obsession.
Preliminary findings in the case revealed a nine-page pocket diary that accounts for intense attachment to the Korean culture and an alleged family discord.
[Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).]
