On February 4, news of the suicide of three minor sisters - Pakhi, 12, Prachi, 14, and Vishika, 16 - in Ghaziabad shocked the nation. Their parents later discovered an eight-page suicide note in a pocket diary, revealing that the girls had taken such drastic measures because their parents had tried to curb their acute obsession with Korea and Korean culture. This obsession, sadly triggered by a task-based game, allegedly led to their deaths.
The previous evening, Sonu Sood took to X to issue a strong warning about children's unmonitored exposure to online gaming and social media in the wake of the Ghaziabad tragedy.
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Sonu Sood wrote on X, "Three young girls lost their lives in Ghaziabad today. Not to violence. Not to poverty. But to the unseen pressure of online gaming and digital addiction. I've raised my voice before, and I'll say it again. Social media and online gaming must be restricted for children under 16, except for education."
He added, "Childhood needs guidance, not algorithms. Care, not constant screens. This isn't about blame. It's about protection, before it's too late. Let this not become another headline we forget. It's time to act."
Sonu Sood also shared a video in which he urged parents to be emotionally present, as that is what children need. He emphasised that the tragic deaths were not the result of poverty or physical abuse, but of the "unseen pressure of online gaming and digital addiction."
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About The Triple Suicide Case
The three minor sisters allegedly jumped to their deaths from the ninth floor of their Ghaziabad flat on Wednesday, leaving behind an eight-page suicide note. In it, they accused their parents of distressing them by not letting them watch Korean dramas.
"How will you make us leave Korea? Korean was our life, so how dare you make us leave our life? You didn't know how much we loved them. Now you have seen the proof. Now we are convinced that Korean and K-Pop are our life. We didn't love you and your family as much as we loved the Korean actor and the K-Pop group. Korean was our life," the note read.
The sisters-Pakhi, Prachi, and Vishikha-had reportedly amassed a significant number of social media followers and even adopted Korean names: Maria, Aliza, and Cindy.
The incident occurred at 2:15 AM, when police received information about the girls jumping from their balcony in a tower of Bharat City under the Teela Mor police station limits in the Sahibabad area.
Upon arrival, officers noted that the girls had suffered fatal injuries. Despite being rushed to hospital, all three were declared dead on arrival.
Further details from officials revealed that the father had restricted the children's mobile phone use. On one hand, the obsession with Korean culture was a key factor highlighted in the suicide note. On the other, the family's poor financial condition played a role.
The girls' father, Chetan Kumar, was a stock trader burdened with a debt of Rs 2 crore, police said. The family's mobile phones had reportedly been sold to pay electricity bills. The children had also been threatened with marriage by their father and stopped from going to school after the Covid lockdown-all due to money problems.
Apart from the complaints about being forced to abandon Korean culture, the suicide note listed other art and culture forms that interested the three minors, including Thai, Japanese, and Chinese films.
Initial investigations suggest the triple suicide stemmed from multiple factors: gaming addiction, the influence of Korean dramas, and financial pressures.