On a still winter night in early February 2026, a tragedy unfolded in Ghaziabad’s Bharat City Society that gripped the nation with grief and disbelief. At around 2:15 a.m. on 4 February, three sisters—Nishika (16), Prachi (14), and Pakhi (12) jumped from the ninth floor of their family’s apartment, ending their lives in a way shocking in its finality and heartbreaking in its seeming senselessness.

What emerged from the scene was more than a crime statistic or a fleeting headline. It was a story of isolation, loss of connection, and children deeply embedded in digital worlds, where the line between fantasy and reality blurred, and real human needs went unspoken. It was a story that forced India to confront uncomfortable questions: Are we failing our children emotionally? What role do screens play when human relationships falter? What should parents, schools, counsellors and governments do when young lives start unravelling in silence?

The Scene: A Tragedy in Ghaziabad’s Bharat City Society

In that otherwise quiet residential compound in Uttar Pradesh, neighbours were jolted awake by the terrifying sound of a fall after midnight. Authorities found all three girls had died at the site, and a suicide note and a diary filled with handwritten pages were recovered from their room.

Investigators quickly uncovered that the girls, once ordinary teenagers with names like Nishika, Prachi and Pakhi, had become intensely fixated on Korean culture and online engagement. They had reportedly created a social media presence under Korean names, gathering followers for content linked to their interests. Their father had deleted this social account and confiscated their phones about 10 days before the tragedy, after discovering how deep their immersion had become.

The suicide diary contained emotional expressions of feeling alone, a longing to belong to another culture, and references to Korea as “our life”. These weren’t just passing remarks—they revealed a deep identity entanglement with a virtual world that had grown to overshadow their offline existence.

But the story doesn’t end on screens. Beneath the surface lay years of social withdrawal: the girls hadn’t attended school for years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the eldest still being enrolled only in Class 4 despite being 16, and none having a meaningful peer network outside the home.

What Happened Before the Fall: Addiction or Escape?

Much of the discussion around this case quickly focused on whether the girls were “addicted” to their phones, a Korean love game, or K-dramas. Early police statements suggested that a Korean task-based online game might have been involved, one that allegedly required players to complete tasks and may have culminated in self-harm as a challenge directive.

However, investigators later clarified that no specific game was conclusively linked to the case, and what was more evident was the girls’ deep internalisation of Korean culture—dramas, music, identities and fantasies rather than a single toxic app.

What is clear from the police reports and their diary entries is that their lives had become heavily oriented around screens and a shared alternate reality, so much so that they began calling one another by Korean names and saw Korea as a dream destination, even to the point of rejecting their Indian identity and expressing resentment toward their family over it.

From the outside, what might have looked like a simple preference for K-dramas or gaming appears to have been something much more profound: a coping mechanism for loneliness and a substitute for real-world connections.

Digital Immersion and Emotional Void: Anatomy of a Disconnect

To understand why three young sisters would find greater solace and meaning in a mediated fantasy world than their own reality, we have to grasp the psychological pull of immersive digital content.

Studies and mental health experts have shown that problematic internet and social media use among adolescents is correlated with anxiety, depression, sleep disruption and social withdrawal. Excessive screen time, especially when coupled with isolation or weak support systems, can intensify feelings of loneliness and emotional distress rather than mitigate them.

For children whose offline lives lack strong peer bonds, meaningful school engagement, and supportive family communication, digital spaces can seem like a more validating or tolerable world. These platforms and media, powered by algorithmic design intended to maximise engagement, can inadvertently foster dependency and emotional entanglement—especially when users are young and emotionally vulnerable.

In the Ghaziabad case, the girls’ complete withdrawal from schooling and social life left them with little but screens for stimulation and emotional anchoring. Over time, their identity, self-worth, and emotional validation became entangled with dialogue, narratives, followers, and online roles—making them especially susceptible to distress when that connection was disrupted.

This aligns with broader psychological research showing that screen overuse doesn’t occur in a vacuum; it is often intertwined with unmet emotional needs, social isolation, and mental health vulnerabilities in children and teens.

From Parents to Counsellors: What Experts Say About Digital Use and Youth

In the wake of this tragedy, psychiatrists, child psychologists and youth counsellors have stressed the importance of looking beyond simplistic explanations like “addiction to phones” or “blaming the game”. Instead, they emphasise understanding the emotional landscape beneath the behaviour.

Heavy Digital Use: A Signal, Not Always the Root

Clinicians caution that intense media use among children is often a signal of deeper distress, not the cause itself. Persistent disengagement from school, loss of interest in hobbies, sleep disturbances, and irritability when offline are symptoms that require attention, not just restriction.

It’s critical to recognise that digital engagements may serve as a refuge—a place where children feel they have control, identity and connection that they don’t find offline.

Gradual, Supported Changes

Rather than the abrupt removal of devices, mental health professionals recommend a gradual withdrawal approach. Sudden confiscation can feel like loss or rejection to a child whose sense of belonging is rooted online, potentially escalating distress instead of alleviating it.

A sustainable path involves open conversations, establishing mutual agreements about usage, and replacing screen time with enriching offline activities that build confidence and social bonds.

Family Modelling and Emotional Attunement

Children learn how to relate to technology and people by observing caregivers. When parents themselves overuse screens or lack emotional attunement, children may internalise that pattern as “normal”. Experts recommend families model balanced tech habits, shared offline time, and emotional presence, which can go a long way in preventing compulsive device use.

School and Counselling Support

Regular connection with schools, counsellors, and mental health professionals can help identify problems early. Unfortunately, many schools struggle to implement full-time counselling despite guidelines encouraging it—leaving gaps in care when children need emotional support most.

Across the world, mental health advisories warn that excessive or problematic social media use has been linked to anxiety, depression and self-harm behaviour in youth, but these effects vary by individual and context.

Parenting in the Digital Age: More Than “No Screens”

If anything constructive can emerge from collective sorrow, it is a renewed conversation about parenting in the age of screens.

When young people lack strong real-world connections and rely extensively on digital content for identity and emotional regulation, simply taking away devices won’t restore those missing elements. The tragedy in Ghaziabad revealed deeper issues:

Emotional Listening Over Punitive Control

Punishment alone seldom fosters understanding or healing. Children need to feel heard—especially when they use screens not merely for entertainment but as a coping tool for emotional needs they cannot articulate.

Cultivating Real-World Support Systems

Encouraging participation in community activities, social groups, creative outlets, sports, and other offline interests can help broaden a child’s world beyond the digital space.

Teaching Digital Literacy and Healthy Boundaries

It’s not enough to restrict access; children need guidance on how to navigate digital media responsibly, understand its mechanics, and recognise harmful patterns.

Beyond Borders: Is Regulation the Answer?

The Ghaziabad case has also sparked a larger debate: Should governments enact age-based restrictions on social media and online platforms to protect children?

Globally, nations are grappling with similar dilemmas. Countries like Australia have implemented bans on social media use for children under 16, and parts of Europe are considering similar restrictions for those under 14 or 15, citing evidence of mental health harms associated with excessive use.

In India too, policymakers in states like Maharashtra have initiated task forces to study age-based limits for social media use among children, reflecting growing concern about digital addiction and its consequences.

However, experts caution that legislation alone cannot be the panacea. Some argue that banning access without addressing underlying emotional support systems, family relationships, school engagement and mental health infrastructure risks ignoring the true roots of youth distress.

A Collective Responsibility: Families, Schools, Society and Policy

The tragic deaths of Nishika, Prachi and Pakhi are not merely a call to “ban phones” or “block apps”. They are a profound reminder that our children’s emotional worlds are delicate, complex and interconnected with both offline realities and digital experiences.

We need a holistic approach:

• Families who listen, connect, and model balanced technology use
• Schools that provide emotional support and early intervention
• Counsellors who treat excessive screen use as a symptom of underlying distress
• Communities that foster safe, real-world social bonds

While regulation and age-based restrictions may form part of a protective framework, they must be paired with emotional education, digital literacy, and accessible mental health support.

From Sorrow to Understanding

The deaths of three young sisters in Ghaziabad were a tragedy of unfathomable personal pain. But they also revealed systemic issues: loneliness in the digital age, gaps in emotional support, and the need for society to nurture its young beyond screens.

Technology is neither wholly good nor wholly evil; it is human beings and our relationships with one another and with ourselves that determine its impact. If these girls turned to screens because they felt unseen, unheard, or isolated, then the answer lies not in merely banning screens but in rebuilding connection, restoring emotional presence, and creating environments where children feel grounded in life, not lost in pixels.

In their diary, they wrote, “Sorry papa.” But perhaps what we must say to all young people is: 

"We see you. We hear you. We will do better.”

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