Three sisters, ages 12, 14 and 16, died early Wednesday after falling from the ninth-floor balcony of their family’s apartment in the Bharat City complex outside New Delhi, police said. The family had recently argued over the girls’ growing fixation with a phone-based “Korean love game” and related online content, according to officials and relatives.
Authorities said officers were called around 2:15 a.m. to the high-rise in the Sahibabad area and that the girls were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Investigators recovered a diary containing an eight-page note and found short messages scrawled on a bedroom wall. Detectives are reviewing the family’s mobile phones and interviewing parents and neighbors to map the sequence of events. Police described the case as a suspected suicide involving minors and stressed that the specific app or game has not been confirmed. The deaths have stirred debate in India about the influence of online games and fandom communities, as well as how families and schools respond when screen use eclipses daily routines.
According to preliminary accounts from the family and police, a dispute began when the father limited the girls’ access to a smartphone they used to watch Korean dramas and play a task-based game they had discussed among themselves. The sisters had increasingly isolated at home since the pandemic and had not regularly attended school, relatives said. In the hours before the fall, family members said the girls were upset about losing access to their phone. “We didn’t understand how deep this had gone,” the father said in local interviews. Officers said a pocket diary and other writings recovered in the apartment referenced Korea and a desire to live apart from family rules. Police said they are examining whether all three sisters acted together or if one or more fell while trying to intervene.
Deputy and assistant commissioners overseeing the case said evidence teams photographed wall markings, collected the diary and seized at least one handset for forensic imaging. Autopsies were ordered, and post-mortem reports are pending. Investigators said neighbors reported hearing commotion shortly before the fall but did not see what happened inside the flat. Officials emphasized that the name of the app remains unverified, despite claims circulating on social media. Police also noted differences in early reports about the sisters’ first names and ages; officers said formal identifications would be clarified in written releases. As of Thursday, no criminal case had been opened against relatives, and police said counseling support was being arranged for surviving family members.
The incident unfolded in Bharat City, a large residential development straddling the Delhi–Ghaziabad corridor that has seen rapid growth in recent years. Local outlets have reported earlier cases across India where adolescents gravitated toward challenge-based or horror-style mobile games, prompting warnings from schools and state authorities. Public debate has focused on high screen time after Covid-19 closures and how fandom around imported entertainment—from K-pop to serial dramas—can create intense online communities. Health professionals interviewed in the region noted that teens who withdraw from school and offline social life may rely on online worlds to cope with stress or conflict, which can escalate distress when access is limited.
Police said the next steps include a full analysis of the recovered devices, canvassing for building CCTV footage, and detailed interviews with relatives, neighbors and friends. Investigators said they would review phone histories, app installations, chats and search activity to determine whether any person or platform encouraged self-harm. Officials plan to issue an update once autopsy findings and digital forensics are in hand. If evidence points to abetment or unlawful influence, police said they could register a criminal case; otherwise, the matter would proceed as a suicide inquiry. Authorities did not release a timetable but said an initial briefing could come after forensic reports are returned.
At the apartment complex, residents described a quiet stairwell and a wind-swept courtyard below the tower where the girls were found. Workers placed temporary barricades near the entry as officers moved in and out carrying evidence bags. A neighbor on the eighth floor said she had seen the sisters together in recent weeks but rarely outdoors for long. Another resident said the family had shifted to the building within the past few years and mostly kept to themselves. Outside the gates, passersby stopped to read headlines pinned to kiosks, while security guards answered questions from reporters and helped direct relatives to the correct tower.
As of Thursday afternoon, police maintained that the case remains under active investigation, with phone forensics and autopsy results pending. Officials said they would provide the next public update once lab findings return and any security video is reviewed in full.
Author note: Last updated February 5, 2026.