Delhi mass deaths: 6 died due to hanging, reveals postmortem; no signs of struggle found

NEW DELHI: The postmortem of 6 bodies in the mysterious death case of 11 members of a family in Burari in Delhi has revealed that they died due to hanging. As per the police sources, 'ligature hanging' has been cited as the reason behind the deaths. It also states that no signs of struggle were found.

Meanwhile, the family members have given their consent to donate the eyes of the deceased. "The first thing we did was to donate their eyes that could provide eyesight to 22 people, considering the family was religious and always wanted to help others. We gave the approval letter yesterday," Navneet Batra, friend of the family said.

Eleven members of a family were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Burari area in Delhi on Sunday. The family of the deceased have demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

While the Delhi Police has hinted at the possibility of some spiritual or mystical practice by those who were found dead, the family has denied any possibility of suicide. Following the initial investigation into the case, the police said, “during the search of the house, certain hand-written notes have been found which point towards observance of some definite spiritual/mystical practices by the whole family.”

“Coincidentally, these notes have a strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes etc of the deceased were tied and taped. The same is being investigated further to establish its links with the deaths,” a police official told news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, Adityanath Sisodia, a relative of the deceased, told Zee News that he had attended an event with the family members on June 17 and they all seemed fine, without any indication of stress. He further said that he also had a conversation with them on the telephone on Saturday and everything appeared to be normal.

The case has been transferred to the crime branch for further investigation.

"Case has been transferred to us (crime branch) and we've inspected the site. Hand-written letters that have been recovered suggest spiritual angle to the deaths. Further investigation will reveal more," said Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner Police (Crime).

While 10 bodies were found hanging from the roof in the courtyard of the house, the body of Narayana, a 75-year-old woman, was found on the floor. The bodies were blindfolded and gagged.

Of the victims, there were two brothers identified as Bhupinder and Lalit Singh. While the former ran a grocery store, the latter was a carpenter. Both operated their businesses from their family home.

The dead have been identified as 75-year-old woman Narayana, 60-year-old Pratibha, 30-year-old Priyanka, 46-year-old Bhupi, 42-year-old Savita, 24-year-old Neetu, 18-year-old Meenu, 12-year-old Dhruv, 42-year-old Lalit, 38-year-old Tina, 12-year-old Shivam.