A relative of the family, whose 11 members were found dead in north Delhi’s Burari on Sunday, on Monday refuted claims they observed spiritual or mystical practices and may have died during the course of a “religious ritual that went wrong”. Someone killed them and all the reports on the spiritual angle are bogus. This family was a happy and peace-loving one who never believed in ‘babas’,” Sujata, the daughter Narayan Devi said. Ten of her family members were found hanging from an iron grill blindfolded, gagged and hands tied behind, and her mother was discovered dead on the floor in another room. The dead have been identified as Narayan Devi (77), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45), her daughters-in-law Savita (48) and Teena (42), her daughter Pratibha (57), her grandchildren Priyanka (33), Nitu (25), Monu (23), Dhruv (15) and Shivam (15). The post-mortem examination of their bodies has confirmed death because of hanging for six of the 11 members of the Bhatia family. Police sources said “ligature hanging” was the reason behind the deaths and that no signs of struggle were found. The post-mortem of the remaining five bodies is expected to be completed on Monday. police have registered a murder case because there were “ligature” marks around the neck of Narayan Devi, prompting investigators to suspect that she was strangled. They said they were probing multiple theories to figure what led to the deaths. Investigators so far have recovered handwritten notes from inside the house that they say hint towards a “suicide pact” related to occult practice.
