‘Last family member’ handed over to shelter
NOIDA: The relatives of the Burari family, who were found hanging inside their north Delhi home on July 1, have decided to permanently hand over the family dog to Noida based animal shelter.
The dog, which was called Tommy by the family, is an Indiapitbull mix breed. It was found chained on the terrace of the house, where 11 members of the Bhatia family were found dead on July 1. Ten of the family members were found hanging at various parts of the house while one woman, Narayan Devi (77) was found dead on the floor of a room. Police investigation so far has revealed that the family might have killed themselves during a ‘religious ritual’ that went horribly wrong. Handwritten notes recovered from the house suggests that the family believed that God will come and save them as soon as they hanged themselves.
The dog was later rescued by a Noida-based animal activist named Sanjay Mahapatra, who claimed that the chained animal was burning with 108 degree fever when he was taken away from the house. Since then, Tommy has been under Mahapatra’s care at his shelter in Noida.
On Sunday, Prashant Singh Chundawat, one of the grandsons of Narayan Devi, the oldest family member found dead inside the house last week, said he has decided to hand over the family dog to a Noida shelter. In an email written to Mahapatra, Chunda-
THE DOG WAS RESCUED BY A NOIDABASED ANIMAL ACTIVIST, WHO CLAIMED THAT THE ANIMAL WAS BURNING WITH 108 DEGREE FEVER WHEN HE WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE HOUSE
wat said, “I would like to thank you for adopting and taking care of our only remaining family member, Tommy. We live in Kota, Rajasthan and it is very difficult for us to get him here as he is not familiar with us and is very aggressive.”
Reacting to the news, Mahapatra said ,”He (Prashant) has also offered us monetary support for looking after Tommy, but we have humbly declined it. The dog’s health has improved and he is eating well now.”