New Delhi: Investigators haven’t yet come to the conclusion that the Bhatia family in Burari committed suicide. Amid the mystery surrounding their deaths, post-mortem of six were conducted which established that they died due to hanging. The post-morterm of five others will be conducted either later in the day or on Tuesday.

Police sources have mentioned 'ligature hanging' as the reason behind death & that no signs of struggle were found. Reports say the family members had donated their eyes. Police are probing the case from various angles. Theories of suicide pact and occult practices are being given more focus considering the nature of deaths. Police are searching for one Janigadi Baba who was supposedly close to the family.

What have surprised the investigators are eleven pipes on the exterior wall of the building. They are trying to establish whether the 11 pipes are connected to the deaths. Seven pipes are tilted down while four others are facing straight. The manner in which the pipes were installed have raised questions since seven out of the 11 deceased are women while four are males. The placement of the pipes are so high on the wall and do not appear as if they were fixed for flushing out water.

It is also being investigated whether the family was killed and the deaths were made to appear as if the family tried to attain salvation by adopting occult practices.



Meanwhile, two registers found from the house have mentioned some chilling details

  1. Perform the act preferably on Thursday/Sunday. The cloth should be tied well and nothing but ‘shunya’ should be visible. A saree or dupatta can be used along with the rope.

  2. Rituals should be followed seven days before killing. Rituals should be strictly followed, if the spirit invoked within these days, “complete your pending work” the following day.

  3. If the elderly woman can't stand, she can be made to lie down in the next room and put to sleep.

  4. Use dim lights. If a piece of cloth is left after tying the hands, it can be used it to blindfold people. The result will come out better if one performs the act with complete devotion.

  5. The act should be performed between 12-1 am. A hawan/puja should be conducted prior to that. All should possess the same thoughts. This can be quite fruitful.


The relatives of the deceased have dismissed the ‘religious angle’ behind the deaths and have suspected foul play in the incident.



According to news agency PTI, the deceased were identified as Narayan Devi (77), who was found dead on the floor, her daughter Pratibha (57), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45). Bhavnesh's wife Savita (48) and their three children - Meenu (23), Nidhi (25) and Dhruv (15). Lalit Bhatia's wife Tina (42) and their 15-year-old son Shivam were also among those found dead. Pratibha's daughter Priyanka (33), who was engaged last month and would have married by the end of this year, was also found hanging.

Meenu was preparing for entrance exams and also took tuitions, locals said. Nidhi was pursuing her Masters. The sisters would also take care of the shop sometimes.

A friend of the two minor boys, who were among the 11 people found dead, told PTI that he had seen them playing cricket last night.