The apartment complex where the three minor sisters died by suicide in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh; and (R) a handwritten note that police recovered from their residence.
Credit: PTI Photos
Fresh details have emerged after a pocket diary was recovered from the room of the three minor sisters who jumped to death from their ninth- floor apartment in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad.
The nine-page diary offered a glimpse into their inner world, marked by an intense attachment to the Korean culture and K-dramas and anguish over denial of phone, according to the police.
The sisters — Nishika (16), Prachi (14) and Pakhi (12) — jumped from the ninth floor of Bharat City Society in the Teela Mod police station area early on Wednesday.
Initially, the police said the sisters were "addicted to an online Korean game that involved a series of tasks". However, following investigation, the police informed that the girls were "influenced" by Korean culture, but that was not the only trigger.
According to reports, the three girls had created a social media account that had significant number of followers. About 10 days ago, their father, Chetan Kumar, learned about their social media account, and deleted it.
As per reports, Chetan Kumar, who was facing a debt of Rs 2 crore, then sold the phone to pay electricity bills.
Family's financial struggles
After confiscating the phone, their father "threatened" the girls that he would marry them off. The sisters responded that they cannot get married as they are "not Indian but Korean", reported NDTV.
Due to the family's financial issues, the girls had stopped going to school and had been staying at home for the past two years.
Note says 'Sorry papa'
A note written in the diary said: "Is diary me jo kuch bhi likha hai woh sab padh lo kyuki ye sab sach har (Read everything that's written in this diary. All of it is true). "Read now. Im really sorry. sorry, papa."
At the end of the note, there is a drawing of a crying emoji.
According to the police, the diary contains repeated references to the girls' love for Korea and what they described as attempts by the family to make them give it up.
"Korean was our life, so how dare you make us leave our life?"
"You didn't know how much we loved them. Now you've seen the proof. Now we are convinced that Korean and K-Pop are our life. We didn't love you and family as much as we loved the Korean actor and the K-Pop group. Korean was our life ..," the note read, as per the report.
"We never expected anything like this .. So that's why we are committing suicide. Sorry, Dad," it read.
The note alleges that their parents were opposed to their interests and future choices, including marriage. "You tried to make us give up Korean. Korean was our life… You expected our marriage to an Indian, that can never happen," the diary says, reported PTI.
It also mentions physical punishment and ends with an apology addressed to their father. "Death is better for us than your beatings. That is why we are committing suicide... Sorry Papa."
According to the police, Chetan Kumar, a forex trader, has two wives, both sisters, and they have five children in all — four daughters and a son. The entire family lived together.
Investigation revealed that two minor sisters jumped off the balcony together, holding each other's hands, while the third jumped off alone from the window of the prayer room, the police said.
They were rushed to hospital in Loni, close by, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.
According to Chetan Kumar, Prachi, the middle sister of the three, once told him she was the "boss" and that her sisters followed her directions.
He told the police that the three sisters did everything together — eating, bathing and spending time — and mostly remained confined to their room.
During the investigation, the police found that Chetan Kumar's first wife could not conceive, which caused marital discord. With the wife's consent, he then got married to her younger sister, a police official said.
"After the second marriage, the couple was blessed with a daughter. In a surprising development, the first wife also gave birth to children later," an official said.
The police said the first wife gave birth to two children, while the second wife had three. The youngest sister of the two wives was staying in the apartment with the family on the night of the incident, they said.
(With PTI inputs)