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Three sisters have died after jumping from the balcony of their ninth-floor apartment after their parents confiscated their mobile phones. The incident happened at around 2.15am on Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, India, according to local media.

It is believed that the three sisters, Vishika, 16, Prachi, 14 and Pakhi, 12, had seen their phones confiscated by their father, causing them to become upset. According to locals, the girls barricaded themselves on the balcony in the early hours of February 4, bolting shut the door to prevent their parents from accessing it. Their screams were described as being so loud that they woke neighbours and security guards within the apartment block.

Atul Kumar Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police, told local reporters: "When we reached the scene, we confirmed that three girls, daughters of Chetan Kumar, had died after jumping from the building."

Exact circumstances remain unclear, with one line of investigation being that two of the sisters slipped whilst trying to prevent a third from jumping.

The girls were known to be huge fans of Korean culture and K-pop, to the extent that they had recently taken on Korean names.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimish Patel added: "For the past few days, they had been denied access to a mobile phone, a restriction that appeared to have affected them."

Police also confirmed that they had found an eight-page suicide note inside the apartment.

The girls' father, Chetan Kumar, described what he had read.

He said that the note read: "Papa, sorry, Korea is our life, Korea is our biggest love, whatever you say, we cannot give it up. So we are killing ourselves.

"You tried to distance us from Koreans, but now you know how much we love Koreans."

Mr Kumar added: "This should not happen to any parent or child."

Local resident Arun Singh told local media how he had seen figures on the balcony as he prepared to go to bed.

He added: "I couldn't figure out if it was a man or a woman since I was standing at a distance. I called my wife and said that someone was trying to jump and I should do something.

"My partner suggested that it must be a marital dispute. I thought it was a couple; a man trying to jump while the wife was trying to stop him.

"A small girl came and hugged the person sitting on the railing tightly. Before I could get my phone and call someone to stop the person from jumping, all three - the person sitting on the railing and two girls trying to pull them down - fell off the balcony.

"One of them seemed determined to jump while the two others were trying to save them, but all three fell headfirst."

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