The tragic deaths by suicide of three Ghaziabad sisters, the oldest of whom was just 16, has put the focus on an online, task/challenge-based 'Korean love game' called 'We are not Indians'.
Sources said the sisters were addicted to the 'game' – which reportedly ends with 'instructions' the individual 'playing' it commit suicide – and even stopped going to school two years ago.
Instead, Vishika (16), Prachi (14), and Pakhi (12) sank deeper into the clutches of the 'game' till, at 2.15 am on Wednesday, they jumped from their ninth-floor apartment, leaving behind a handwritten note on which was scrawled "sorry papa (father)…" and a crying face emoji.
It has also raised memories of the horrific 'blue whale challenge' first reported in India in 2017, starting with the death by suicide of a 14-year-old Mumbai boy, and the 'momo challenge' from 2018 that followed the same pattern – strangers accosting people on social media and daring them into tasks that end in self-harm. Sources told NDTV the 'Korean' version seems to be spread in a similar manner.
What is 'Korean love game'?
Sources close to the Ghaziabad investigation said the 'game' begins with an unknown person initiating a conversation with a child on social media or through certain mobile apps.
This person claims to be a Korean or, at the very least, a foreign national, and talks about friendship and love. After this, after a measure of trust has been established, the children are assigned tasks, starting with simple challenges like getting up in the middle of the night.
Over time these become more difficult and demanding, and the 'game master' threatens the children if they don't follow orders. The 'challenges' run for 50 consecutive days, source said.
The 50th 'challenge' is reportedly to commit suicide.
READ | "Read Everything In Diary": Suicide Note Of 3 Sisters With Crying Emoji
The sisters' deaths have not yet been linked, conclusively, to this 'game'.
However, the investigation so far does suggest an addiction, beginning with the father confirming his daughters had begun referring to themselves with Korean names.
When the parents tried to intervene, including restricting mobile phone usage, they reportedly said, "… Korea is our life, Korea is our biggest love, whatever you say, we cannot give it up…"
What is the 'blue whale' game?
Believed to have originated in Russia, the 'blue whale challenge' also involves a series of dares, being assigned to the 'player', by a curator over 50 days, with the final one to commit suicide.
Those pulled into the twisted 'game' were often forced into completing tasks through threats, blackmail, or psychological manipulation. The name derived from the behaviour of blue whales, which are known to beach themselves intentionally, which often results in their death.
NDTV Explains | 'Blue Whale Challenge': Online 'Game' Behind Indian Student's Death
The first reported case from India was in Mumbai and references to it were made as recently as 2024; in August that year a 15-year-old boy jumped from the 14th floor of a building in Pune.
The boy, a Class 10 student and a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad, had reportedly become addicted to online games, isolating himself and spending hours on his laptop.
And the 'momo challenge'?
In 2018 there were reports of a similar phenomenon.
Spread via WhatsApp forwards, it was dubbed 'momo challenge' because people, including kids, were being conned into adding unknown people to their contacts under the name 'Momo'.
READ | After 'Blue Whale', 'Momo Challenge' Sparks Fear On Internet
In this 'game' too initially simple tasks were assigned and escalated to a suicide 'challenge'.
In August 2018 it was linked to the death of a 12-year-old girl in Argentina.
'Korean love game' investigation
The preliminary inquiry into the Ghaziabad deaths has not revealed a point of contact, i.e., the social media platform or mobile app through which the sisters were lured into the 'game'.
READ | "1 Sister Was About To Jump, Other 2 Tried To Hold Her": Eyewitness
Visuals from their home revealed disturbing phrases scribbled on the wall of their bedroom, phrases such as "I am very very alone" and "make me a hert of broken (sic)".
Meanwhile, there are reports other recent deaths by suicide, including that of a 13-year-old boy in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, may be linked this macabre 'game'.
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