Ghaziabad: Three Teens Jump From Ninth Floor Over Alleged Korean Online Game Addiction

Three teenage sisters in Ghaziabad ended their lives by jumping from their ninth-floor home early on Wednesday, with police linking the tragedy to their addiction to an online Korean game that had kept them out of school for three years.

The girls, aged 16, 14 and 12, left behind a pocket diary that revealed their deep attachment to Korean culture and distress over family conflicts, including physical punishment. The diary ended with a note: "Death is better for us then your beatings. That is why we are committing suicide... Sorry Papa."

Their father, Chetan Kumar, told police they had been playing the game for nearly three years and had stopped attending school. According to PTI, he was unaware of the "Korean Love Game" his daughters were involved in, which reportedly included a series of tasks they followed. "If I had known that such tasks existed, no father would ever allow his children to be part of it," Kumar said. He added that the girls often expressed a desire to go to Korea.

Police investigations indicated the sisters took the step after their parents objected to their excessive mobile phone use. The incident has highlighted the risks of online gaming addiction and the growing interest in Korean popular culture among young people.

Vandana Prakash, a clinical psychologist and senior consultant at Max Superspeciality Hospital, Vaishali, explained that online gaming addiction consumes time and resources, diverting individuals from activities like school, work and outdoor play. "It also keeps the person away from social interaction, making him/her isolated and lonely. Lack of productive life and away from real world often has effect on the person's mental health, making them suicidal,” Prakash said.

Forensic psychologist Deepti Puranik noted that adolescents often tie their identities to their gaming personas, and removing that can have severe consequences. "Their entire psyche starts moving around their competency in that game rather than in real life. When you take that away, the identity as an individual collapses. They may experience complete emotional isolation that can lead to them taking extreme steps," she said.

Puranik added that addictions involve the brain's reward system. "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," the Mumbai-based psychologist told PTI.

Clinical psychologist Shweta Sharma attributed the fascination with Korean pop culture among youth to parents' emotional unavailability. "Parents don't have time. Emotional availability is definitely not there. We are providing children with all the facilities without understanding whether they are able to handle it or not. So that emotional need is not getting fulfilled.

"In Korean culture, if you see any series, any game or whatsoever they are making, they are made mostly on the basis of friendship, love and belonging," the Gurgaon-based expert said.

Sharma's view was reflected in a 2024 case where three Class 8 girls from a Maharashtra village attempted to travel to Korea to meet the band BTS, without passports or money. They were returned home safely. "For them, that was their reality. And you are actually trying to attempt, or you are separating them from their real world. For them, it is more real from the actual reality. For them, the real versus reel is a basic challenge," Sharma explained.

Discussing gaming addiction, she said it often begins with curiosity and peer pressure to prove oneself. "At each stage of the game, there is constant need to prove yourself. So, usually, these children cannot understand proper emotional regulation. They have a strong need to be seen, need to be acknowledged." Sharma noted that adolescents lack a fully developed prefrontal cortex, affecting decision-making and impulse control. "The addiction level is high in this age group because they are still under development. They can't differentiate between reality and perception," she said.

On the same day as the Ghaziabad incident, a 14-year-old boy in Bhopal allegedly committed suicide, with his family suspecting addiction to the mobile game 'Free Fire'. The Class 9 student, an only child, had been reprimanded by his mother, police said.

PTI reported that these cases echo the 2017 Blue Whale challenge, a 50-day online game believed to have originated in Russia, which claimed over 130 lives in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It involved escalating tasks, culminating in suicide.

Experts recommended regulating phone use through open family discussions to foster a healthier environment for adolescents.

(With inputs from PTI)