Soon after the deaths, the father told police and several media organisations that the girls’ actions were linked to online gaming platforms.
A day after three minor half-sisters jumped to their deaths from their apartment in Ghaziabad, their father alleged that in the hours before the incident, the girls had demanded that he take them to South Korea and told him that if they were not sent there, they “would die”.
Ghaziabad police, meanwhile, said they are questioning family members and verifying a series of claims made by the family to media outlets in the immediate aftermath of the incident, particularly allegations linking the deaths to so-called “online task-based games”.
The three sisters, aged 11, 14 and 16, allegedly jumped from their ninth-floor flat around 2am on Wednesday.
Soon after the deaths, the father told police and several media organisations that the girls’ actions were linked to online gaming platforms. Some police officials also initially echoed this claim. However, investigators said no such evidence has emerged so far.
“As per the investigation till now, there is no involvement of task-based games behind the incident… The claims made by the father will be verified, and he will be questioned in detail. We will also seek evidence to support these claims once the family is in a position to cooperate,” said Nimish Patil, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Trans-Hindon Zone.
Patil said the mobile phone recovered from the room from which the girls allegedly jumped belonged to their mother. “There were no suspicious messages or calls made before the incident. The mobile did not contain any evidence of task-based gaming,” he said.
Their father, meanwhile, described his last interaction with the girls on the night of the incident.
“I spoke to them around 10pm. I asked if they had eaten dinner and told them to sleep. They again insisted that I take them to Korea. I refused. I had taken their mobile phone around 7pm, but they got it back from their mother around 10pm and used it till midnight. After that, they got out of bed and went to the puja room. Some time later, we found them dead on the ground floor,” he said.
The father further alleged that the girls were addicted to videos featuring Korean music and dance. “The three girls used their own photos as profile pictures, and if I removed them, they would stop eating at times,” he said.
Police said that, based on the investigation so far, the girls were deeply immersed in Korean popular culture and spent long hours watching K-dramas, K-pop videos and related online content.
“At present, the case is being investigated as a suicide. If the family provides any evidence related to task-based gaming, we will examine that angle. During the last six to seven months, the father had sold two mobile phones that were previously used by the girls. We are trying to trace those devices as part of the investigation,” Patil said.
