In the stillness of early Wednesday morning, three sisters leapt from the ninth floor of their apartment in Ghaziabad’s Bharat City Society, leaving behind a diary that has since become the most crucial piece of evidence in a case that has shaken the city.
Sixteen-year-old Nishika, 14-year-old Prachi, and 12-year-old Pakhi were found dead after allegedly jumping one after another from the balcony window of their family’s flat. Post-mortem examinations confirmed that the cause of death was head injuries.
Police say the girls had locked their room from inside before the incident. When family members broke in, it was already too late. The sisters were taken to a hospital in Loni, where doctors declared them dead.
The impact woke several residents around 2.15 am. Arun Kumar, who lives in a neighbouring tower, said he witnessed the final moments from his balcony.
“I now realise it was three girls. One was sitting on the window ledge. Another was holding her, and the third was trying to pull both of them inside,” he said. “A few seconds later, all three fell together. There was a massive noise.”
Kumar said he rushed downstairs and heard the parents arguing in shock. “I heard the mother saying, ‘How can you scold the children so much?’ And the father shouting back, ‘Why couldn’t you take care of them?’”
Another resident, Prashant Singh, recalled hearing a loud thud. “Like others, I heard the scream and ran out. I saw three girls lying dead. Their father came running down and started shouting at one of the women. Then both women began arguing.”
Some residents told police the sisters jumped from the middle of three sliding glass panes in their apartment.
A nine-page diary and eight-page note
From the bedroom the sisters rarely left, police recovered a small pocket diary and a longer handwritten note. Together, they form a narrative that investigators describe as a window into a “parallel world” the girls had created for themselves.
The diary begins with a simple declaration: “We love Korean. Love, love, love.” It ends with an apology: “Sorry Papa.”
Between those two lines lies what the girls called their “true life story”, a mixture of devotion to global pop culture, anger towards their parents, and repeated expressions of despair.
One passage reads, “We love Korean, love, love, love… Look, how will you make us leave Korean? Korean was our life, so how dare you make us leave our life? 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.”
Another entry states, “You tried to make us give up Korean. Korean was our life… You expected our marriage to an Indian, that can never happen.”
In one of the most disturbing lines, the sisters wrote, “Did we live in this world to get beaten by you… death would be better for us than beatings. That is why we are committing suicide.”
Police believe the final diary entry was written by the 14-year-old, who was considered the “leader” among the three.
Isolation from school and the outside world
Investigators say the sisters had not been attending school for the last two to three years. After struggling academically, they reportedly stopped going altogether and were neither enrolled elsewhere nor homeschooled.
Instead, they spent almost all their time inside their room. They ate together, bathed together and rarely stepped out. They did not play with other children in the society and had little interaction beyond one another.
Their sense of loneliness was written not only in the diary but also on the walls.
“I am very, very alone,” read one line.
“My life is very very alone,” said another.
“Make me a heart of broken,” was written repeatedly.
Police believe these messages reflect how cut off the girls felt from family, school and the outside world.
Obsession with global pop culture
The diary lists what the sisters loved and what they felt their parents disapproved of — a catalogue of international entertainment that spans countries and formats.
Among the entries are Korean actors, K-pop, Korean movies and Korean BL dramas; Chinese actors, songs, movies and Chinese BL dramas; Thai actors, songs, movies and Thai BL dramas; Japanese actors, songs, movies and Japanese BL dramas; American and London actors and movies, with a special mention of the ‘Wednesday Addams’ character; and “all English and Hollywood songs”.
Cartoons and animated characters also feature prominently: Doraemon, Shinwen, PJ Masks, Masaha and the Bear, Shimore and Shine, Peppa Pig, and Disney princesses including Elsa, Anabella, Cinderella, Arayl, Aurora, Jasmine, Rupanjal and Mulan, along with “all Prince and Princess”.
Police say the girls even adopted names from shows, calling each other Maria, Aliza and Cindy.
South Korea, in particular, appeared to be their emotional refuge. Investigators say the sisters wished to visit the country and imagined a future connected to Korean culture.
Games and a 'Korean love game'
Alongside movies and music, the diary lists several mobile and online games.
These include Poppy Playtime, The Baby in Yellow, Evil Nun, Ice Cream Man Game, Ice Game, and gameplay videos from Techno Gamers and Bright Gamers.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Atul Kumar Singh said the sisters were deeply engrossed in a task-based Korean “love game”. Their father told police they had been playing this particular game for about two-and-a-half to three years.
Singh added, “Their parents had restricted their mobile phone usage for the past few days, which distressed them. This may have triggered their decision to take this extreme step.”
Investigators are examining whether the game culminated in a final instruction to die by suicide. The sisters had also reportedly adopted Korean-style names for themselves.
Forensic psychologist Deepti Puranik cautioned against seeing gaming as the sole cause. “Games give pleasure to these kids through rewards or appreciation. Gaming directly may not cause an individual to take extreme steps, but it can lead to a lot of these factors that can make an individual's life chaotic and uncontrollable,” she said.
Conflict at home and the 'enemy' sister
The diary portrays a household filled with tension.
The sisters wrote of repeated opposition from their parents to their interests and of physical punishment. They also mentioned cryptic fears about marriage despite being minors.
A particularly troubling section refers to their four-year-old younger sister, Devu.
The three wrote that they tried to make her “their own” by introducing her to Korean culture. When their parents instead exposed Devu to Bollywood, the older sisters claimed they felt betrayed.
They described Devu as their “enemy” and wrote, “We separated Devu from ourselves and told her that we are Korean and K-Pop and you are Indian and Bollywood.”
Police say this episode seems to have deepened their sense of rejection and separation from the family.
Phones sold, debts mounting
Police are also probing the family’s financial situation.
According to investigators, the girls did not have mobile phones because their father had sold them to pay the electricity bill. He is said to have taken loans and may not have been able to afford their schooling.
An office-bearer of the residential society, speaking anonymously, claimed the father, a stock trader, was under severe stress after alleged losses exceeding Rs 2 crore. Frequent domestic clashes were reported.
The father had also been dealing with marital problems. Two of his partners had allegedly left home in May 2025, leading him to file missing person complaints. Both later returned.
Police have confirmed that the financial angle is part of the ongoing inquiry.
Swift cremations and continuing probe
Another aspect under scrutiny is the unusually swift cremation of the girls’ bodies at Delhi’s Nigam Bodh Ghat on Wednesday evening. Atul Kumar Singh said it may have been due to the family’s “personal reasons”.
The diary and wall writings have been sent for forensic examination. Investigators are analysing handwriting, sequence of entries and any possible links between the games mentioned and the final act.
For now, the nine-page diary stands as the most haunting artifact of three young lives marked by isolation, fixation and despair.
As the last line of their note reads: “Sorry Papa.”
If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832-2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline (Kolkata) 033-64643267.
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