Three minor half-sisters died by suicide after jumping from the ninth floor of their Ghaziabad apartment. Police investigations reveal that financial stress from the pandemic, school dropouts, and an obsession with Korean culture deepened family isolation. The father claimed the girls demanded a trip to South Korea, threatening to die if not fulfilled.
In Ghaziabad, three minor half-sisters aged 16, 14, and 11 jumped to their deaths from the ninth floor of their apartment around 2am on Wednesday. They lived with their 42-year-old father, a stock trader, his two wives who are sisters, a 13-year-old deaf brother, and a four-year-old sister. The father married his first wife 18 years ago and, struggling to conceive, wed her younger sister 15 years ago. The eldest daughter was from the first wife, the younger two from the second.
Police investigations indicate the family's troubles compounded from the 2020 pandemic. Previously middle-class with a car and private schooling, the father suffered heavy business losses and took unrepayable loans. They now rent an apartment for ₹12,000 monthly. The girls were pulled out of school years ago; the eldest dropped after Class 5. "The father believed they weren't doing well academically," one officer stated.
Frequent domestic disputes marked the household, with the father being extremely strict. He sold the two mobile phones the girls shared about six to seven months ago, severing their link to cherished Korean pop culture—one six months prior, the second 10-15 days before the incident. In May 2025, both wives left home briefly due to arguments but returned after two to three days. Stranded indoors, the sisters grew insular and estranged from their siblings, as detailed in their suicide note expressing hatred for Bollywood—which their siblings were encouraged to like—and calling them "enemies."
The father recounted the girls' final demand hours before: a trip to South Korea, warning they would die otherwise. "I refused. They insisted that if we didn't go, they would die," he said. Police found no evidence of task-based online gaming, despite initial claims, but confirmed the girls' deep immersion in K-dramas, K-pop videos, and related content. They had stopped studying two years ago, changed their names to non-Indian ones, and reacted angrily to mentions of Indian culture, sometimes skipping meals. DCP Nimish Patil stated, "It's being investigated as suicide, but claims are being verified, and we're tracing the sold phones." The paternal uncle noted the family had little interaction with relatives, with the father often upset about losses.
