Indian family of 11 found blindfolded and hanged

ELEVEN members of a family were found dead in India’s capital yesterday, most of them hanging from the ceiling of their home, blindfolded, gagged and with their hands tied behind their backs, with police unable to offer any explanation.

A police statement said handwritten notes found in the house pointed “towards observance of some definite spiritual/mystical practices by the whole family”.

“These notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes etc of the deceased were tied and taped,” the statement added.

Police investigating the deaths said they were treating them as possible suicides but had registered a case of murder and were not ruling out any causes.

The family home where they were found is above a grocery store they owned in the Burari district in a northern part of Delhi. It is near to where three people were killed and several injured in a shoot-out between two gangs just two weeks ago, though police said there was no apparent link.

The dead were four men and seven women, including teenagers and a 75-year-old woman who was found on the floor. The others were hanging from a railing attached to the ceiling, media reports said.

Police said the family included the woman, her two sons and their wives, a daughter and grandchildren.

A neighbour is said to have found the victims early yesterday when their shop failed to open as usual.

“I haven’t seen such a crime before,” said Vineet Kumar, additional deputy commissioner of police in north Delhi. “We are investigating all possible angles including suicide, foul play. We can say something about the cause of death only after the post mortem reports come.”

All the family members had died and there were no witnesses. Neighbours had not heard anything untoward, police said. According to media reports, the family moved to Delhi from the northwestern state of Rajasthan about two decades ago and police were trying to get in touch with relatives there.

On June 18, members of rival gangs opened fire on each other in the main Burari market, killing three people and wounding five.