Burari deaths: Post-mortem report rules out foul play
Ten family members died due to hanging
NEW DELHI: The wild speculation and grisly theories on how ten members of the Chundawat family in north Delhi’s Burari had died have been finally put to bed.
The post-mortem report of 10 members of the Chundawat family, whose bodies were recently recovered from their residence Burari, has ruled out any foul play and confirmed that they died due to hanging, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar said on Wednesday.
The post-mortem report of 77-yearold Narayan Devi, whose body was recovered from another room, was awaited, though an initial report had said she died due to “partial hanging”, Kumar added.
The post-mortem report of the ten other members of the family said they died due to hanging and no external injury marks were found on the bodies except for a few scratches, the officer said.
“The final opinion states that the family members died due to ante-mortem hanging. We are waiting for Narayan Devi’s report,” the senior officer added.
The bodies of 10 members of the family were found hanging from an iron mesh attached to the ceiling on July 1, while that of Narayan Devi was found lying on the floor in another room of the house.
Narayan Devi’s daughter Pratibha (57) and two sons - Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45) - were among the deceased.
Bhavnesh’s wife Savita (48) and their three children - Neetu (25), Maneka (23) and Dhirendra (15) - were also found dead.
The others found dead were Lalit’s wife Tina (42), their 15-year-old son Dushyant and Pratibha’s daughter Priyanka, who got engaged last month and was supposed to get married by the year-end. The police had also found 11 diaries, which contained “psychological musings” and certain things written about the “road to god”.
Investigations indicate that the family hadn’t expected to die and intended to repeat the ritual that they thought would improve their lives. The diaries found at the house, filled with handwritten notes, have revealed that the family was influenced by the delusions of one man, Lalit Chundawat, 45, Narayani Devi’s younger son.