Delhi mass deaths: Do the 11 'unusual' pipes in the house hint at suicide?

NEW DELHI: Investigation into the death of eleven members of the Bhatia family in Delhi's Burari seems to be pointing towards occult practices. Police sources are hinting at it being a case of mass suicide where the 11 members had pre-planned their death. 

The police have recovered 11 pipes from the house which look to be mysterious due to their placement. What the police is finding suspicious is that the placement of the 11 pipes is similar to the placement of how the bodies were found from the house. The police are now trying to ascertain whether the four pipes placed in a different way signify the male members while the others denote the female members of the family. One of the pipes is placed away from the others, raising suspicions of whether that has any relation to the body of the elderly woman found on the floor of the house.

As per the police, they have also recovered two registers from the house in which the family has scribbled things about getting salvation (moksha). The register allegedly specifies a pattern in which the family was planning to commit suicide. 

The police also believe that the deaths might have some relation to their prayers to get salvation. The family was allegedly writing notes in these registers since 2015 and had even listed the date of their death. 

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 said.

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.

The police are leaving nothing to chance and are investigating the case both from the angle of a suicide as well as murder.

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.

(With reporter inputs from Pramod Sharma)