The Delhi police tried to identify a potential occultist on Monday, a day after investigations indicated that the mysterious deaths of 11 members of a family could be the result of a ritual gone wrong.
Cops are probing a possible mystical connection as there was no evidence of any forced entry into the two-storyed house. Post-mortem also established there were no signs of struggle, and 10 of them died as a result of hanging. One died of partial hanging.
Investigators are checking call records to establish who the family was in touch with, but did not rule out the possibility of one of the members behind the mass suicide.
Sources said that one of the sons would get dreams of his father as he loved him. He would consult him before making any decision.
Unconfirmed reports, denied by the police, said an occultist and his accomplice were detained for questioning.
Ten bodies had been found hanging from the ceiling in their house at Sant Nagar in north Delhi’s Burari.
Most of them were blindfolded, gagged and their limbs were tied. The eldest family member, a woman, was found on the floor. The dead included seven women, two men and two boys.
Notes found from the home hinted the three generations of the Bhatia family had planned suicide for mass salvation. Articles used for worship offerings such as ghee and grains were also recovered from there.
Almost every step, mentioned in the notes, seems to be have been followed by the family, originally from Rajasthan.
“Everyone should be blindfolded. If the elderly woman can’t stand, she can lie down. Nobody will die but attain something great. When you are hanging, God will miraculously appear and save you. Avoid using mobile phones,” police sources quoted the notes as saying.
Their mobile phones were later found hidden. Cops are scanning the phones to see if there are any photographs of a baba. They are also scanning video recordings of a family event to check if there was the presence of any godman there.
Neighbours said the family used to hold religious rituals and prayed regularly during the last few weeks. They were cheerful, in no financial trouble, they said.
“We are suspecting that the family may have died in a ritual which went wrong,” a police officer said.
The family had been living in the area for the last two decades, running grocery and plywood businesses from the house.
All notes seem to be made by one person. The police will send them for forensic examination to identify the author. They may also have been placed to mislead investigators.
The notes said the ritual could only be performed on Thursdays, Saturdays or Sundays. They chose the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday to avoid error or confusion. Food was delivered at the house on Saturday night.
No one is seen entering or leaving the premises, until a neighbour found the bodies on Sunday.
A neighbour made the grisly discovery after checking on the family as they failed to open their shop.
The dead had been identified as Narayan Devi (77 ), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45), her daughters-in-law Savita (48) and Teena (42 ), daughter Pratibha (57 ), grandchildren Priyanka (33), Nitu (25), Monu (23), Dhruv (15) and Shivam (15).
