Burari deaths
The officer, who is directly involved in the investigations said the notes said that the ritual hangings prescribed would not result in death, with God coming to the rescue of the individuals in their last moments.
A police team found signs of a ‘havan’ (a ritual burning of offerings such as ghee and grains) in another room and suspect one was performed before the family members took their life.
Police are probing if the ritual was advised or suggested by the family’s priest or someone else, perhaps a cult leader that the family may have been following. Vinit Kumar, additional deputy commissioner of police (north) said: “The notes have strong similarities with the manner in which the people were found dead.”
The dead included a 77-yearold woman Narayan Devi, her two sons Bhavnesh Bhatia (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45), their wives Savita (48) and Tina (42) respectively, a daughter Pratibha (57), and five grandchildren, Priyanka (33), Neetu (25), Monu (23), 15-year-olds Dhruv and Shivam. Narayan’s two other surviving children, Dinesh and Sujata, live with their families in Kota and Panipat. Narayan and Pratibha had lost their husbands many years ago.
Originally from Rajasthan, the family had been living in their three-storey building along the Shanti Swaroop Tyagi Marg in Sant Nagar, about a kilometre from the Outer Ring Road. Right across the road is the spot where four persons were killed in a shootout on June 18.
The ground floor of the house, undergoing renovation, has two shops – a plywood business run by Lalit and a grocery shop managed by Bhavnesh. The family was well-off. The only other working member of the family was Priyanka who was engaged on June 17 and was set to be married in December. Relatives and friends said the family was financially comfortable and very religious. On Saturday afternoon, Priyanka reminded one of her neighbours about her wedding.
The deaths came to light at 7.25 am on Sunday when Bhavnesh’s regular customers found the grocery shop closed and milk crates left unattended outside. One customer then alerted a policeman.
“I knocked on the door and got no response. I tried pushing the door and found that it wasn’t locked. I walked upstairs and found nine of the family hanging from the iron grills of the ceiling. Pratibha was hanging separately from a door frame in the same hall,” said Kuldeep Singh, a head constable.
Singh looked around for Narayan and found her lying dead face down on the floor, in the adjacent room.
The police teams were quickly followed by journalists, hundreds of curious onlookers and politicians including chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and BJP’S Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari. The house was not ransacked, polcie claimed and all jewellery was also found intact.
According to the police, the hand written notes mention that the ritual must be performed on a Tuesday, Saturday or a Sunday and that widows were supposed to hang separately from the other members.
Police have sent the bodies for post mortem, which will be performed by a medical board. “We will talk to neighbours and relatives. We are probing why one woman was strangled , unlike the others who were found hanging. The crime branch will conduct a thorough probe,” said a third police officer who asked not to be identified.