11 members of a family found dead in north Delhi. Occult Practices behind deaths

New Delhi: Eleven members of a family, including seven women, were found dead under mysterious circumstances in a house in north Delhi’s Burari area on Sunday morning. According to investigators, three of the deceased could have killed the others under the influence of spiritual practices.

Ten of the bodies were blind-folded and gagged and were found hanging from the ceiling of the house opposite Guru Govind Singh Hospital, police sources said.

Police have recovered handwritten notes saying “the human body is temporary and one can overcome fear by covering their eyes and mouth”.
“We have found handwritten notes detailing how hands and legs are to be tied and are quite similar to the manner in which the bodies of 10 persons were found. They are exhaustive notes and we are studying them,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar.

Police sources said, “Probe has revealed that three of the family members had first decided to commit suicide who had then decided to kill the entire family. They bought sedatives and mixed it in the dinner the previous night and served it to the family.”

A police officer said they are probing to find “if the family indulged in occult practices” or they followed “any godman”.

The three also tied the hands of the others so that no one could raise an alarm or get away.

First they hanged everyone else according to the instructions of a tantrik and later killed themselves.

The trio also tried to write a suicide note, police said that they have found some handwritten notes, which show the influence of some spiritual practices. The three however cancelled the plan to write a suicide note.

Police have also found the family’s pet dog that was left on the roof and the investigators are now trying to find fingerprint traces from its leash to deduce who killed who and also used the sedatives.

Police said, “The man who took the dog from ground floor to the terrace must have left fingerprints on its leash. We will be able to find out who was one of three culprits.”

Police have also seized the mobile phones of the deceased persons for further investigations and they are collecting call records to trace the sequence of events and connect the dots.

Police have registered a murder case in the incident thus ruling out suicide by all of the 11 dead.

“The case has been transferred to the crime branch and we have inspected the site. Handwritten letters that have been recovered from the house, which suggest a spiritual angle to the deaths. Further investigation will reveal more,” said Alok Kumar.

The dinner of all the deceased was laced with sedatives following which they fell unconscious. The person who planned the murders then hung the family members one by one during which one woman woke up. Her throat was slit to stop her from alerting the neighbors or even escaping.

Police teams were rushed to the spot and investigation is underway. Initial reports said the police were suspecting it to be a case of suicide.

Now, investigators are waiting for forensic and autopsy reports to get further details on the shocking incident. Police teams at the site came across several red stools that were lying overturned in the rooms and balcony.

A source said that the family hailed from Chittorgarh and had arrived in Delhi 22 years ago, following which they set up a grocery store and initiated a plywood business. Police were trying to get in touch with the family’s relatives in Rajasthan.