After Ghaziabad sisters’ deaths, grandfather urges ban on Korean task-based games to stop ‘more suicides’

GHAZIABAD: The grandfather of the three minor sisters who allegedly jumped to their deaths from a ninth-floor flat in Ghaziabad has urged the government to ban the Korean task-based game that the girls were reportedly addicted to.He told PTI that such a move could prevent other children from taking extreme steps. "I fold my hands before the government and request that the game be banned, so that no more such deaths or suicides happen," said Dilip, the maternal grandfather of the three sisters, a resident of Seelampur in northeast Delhi.Although initial investigations have not confirmed the girls’ use of any Korean task-based app, a nine-page pocket diary recovered from the room of the three sisters offers a glimpse into their inner world, reflecting a deep attachment to Korean culture and distress over family conflicts.Police said the diary also revealed the loneliness and stress experienced by Nishika (16), Prachi (14), and Pakhi (12), who were living in a large family burdened with heavy debt.After the three sisters jumped to their deaths from the ninth floor of their high-rise building, their father, Chetan Kumar, said they had been playing a Korean game for nearly three years and had not attended school during that period.In the aftermath of the tragedy, several people, including members of a political group, staged protests across the city on Sunday against online games and their increasing influence on children.Protesters in West Delhi’s Subhash Nagar specifically demanded that children under the age of 16 be barred from accessing such games.Leading the protest, Paramjit Singh Pamma, the president of the National Akali Dal, said the government must introduce a strict law to protect young children from the dangers of online gaming."These online games are destroying children's futures and pushing them on the brink of suicide," he said.Pamma urged the government to monitor such apps closely and ban them altogether."There should be a restriction mode in these games so that even if children try to access them, they cannot do so without their parents' permission," she added. (With agency inputs)