'Spiritual practices' behind deaths of 11 of family? Delhi Police probe

NEW DELHI: Police in Delhi are exploring whether the deaths of 11 members of a family in Burari were under the influence of "spiritual practices" after some handwritten notes were discovered in the house.

The handwritten notes found during a search point “toward observance of some definite spiritual or mystical practices by the whole family,” police said in a statement.


“Coincidentally, these notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes etc of the deceased were tied and taped,” the statement further said.

News agencies quoted an unnamed police officer as saying a probe will be conducted to find "if the family indulged in occult practices" or they followed "any godman".

One of the investigators said the notes were found in a couple of registers and were quite exhaustive. They talked about how to overcome fear by covering one's eyes and mouths, and about how one can attain salvation.

Bodies of eleven members of a family, ten of them blindfolded and hanging, were found in the house in Burari village in the northern part of the capital on Sunday morning by a neighbour who found the door open.

Additional Commissioner of Police Vinit Kumar said police began their investigation after they received a call in the morning that some “members of a family have committed suicide.”

NO SUICIDE NOTE

But he said that no suicide note was found, and that police were investigating whether the victims — a 77-year-old woman, her two sons and their wives, a daughter and five grandchildren — committed suicide or were killed.

There were no bullet marks on the victims’ bodies and there was no sign of forced entry into the house, Kumar said.

Though a murder case was registered, both murder and suicide were being investigated. The house had not been ransacked, and even the gold jewellery on the bodies of the women had not been taken.

Ten bodies, blindfolded by cotton and pieces of cloth, were found hanging from an iron grill used as a ventilator in the home’s courtyard, while the body of the 77-year-old woman was lying on the floor of the house.

The dead were identified as Narayani Devi (77), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45), her daughter-in-laws Savita (48) and Teena (42), her daughter Pratibha (57) as well as Priyanka (33), Nitu (25), Monu (23), Dhruv (15) and Shivam (15). The family hailed from Rajasthan.

KIN ALLEGE MURDER

Locals, however, said that even though the family was religious, they never saw anything suspicious.

"They would chant 'Gayatri Mantra' and worship gods once during morning and once in the evening. We never saw any 'tantrik' or godman visiting their house. They were helpful and humble," said one of the neighbours.

Devi's grandson, Ketan Nagpal, said the family members were killed and someone was trying to mislead the investigation.

"We have not been informed about the notes. In this day and age, who follows such things? They were killed and the police have to find the accused," he said