It is almost a week since 11 members of a family in Delhi's Burari area hanged themselves as part of what looks like a spiritual ritual. The case has baffled many and the investigators are still struggling to solve the mystery, which, in fact, seems to be only deepening with time.
As part of the investigation, the Delhi Police, on Friday, July 6, questioned a tantrik (occultist) in connection with the death of the family. The tantrik, identified as a "Geeta Maa," is the daughter of the mason who had installed the 11 pipes in the building reportedly placed in exactly the same way that the bodies were found hanging, almost symbolising each one of them.
Strangely none of these pipes were connected to any water outlet in the house.
However, the police have not found any links between the family's death and the tantrik and could not establish if she had in any way influenced them to kill themselves. While some reports said that Lalit, who planned the entire ritual, had met the woman for about two hours, she said she did not know the family and had never met Lalit.
"The only link Geeta has with the family is that she is the daughter of the mason. She told police she had never met Lalit," DNA quoted an investigating officer as saying.
The officials also interrogated the mason, but no links were found.
As probe is ongoing, it is also being said that the Burari family could have been suffering from "shared psychosis," due to which they believed that the late father of Lalit, one of the deceased, was speaking to them and wanted them to perform the ritual.
One of the notes recovered from the house clearly stated that Gopal Das Bhatia would come and save the family at the last moment. The police have also said that the family seemed to have tried to arrange "a meeting" with Gopal.
"Antim samay mein..akhri ichha ki purti ke waqt, asmaan hilega...dharti kaapegi...uss waqt mantro ka jaap badha dena..main aakr, tumko aur auro ko utaar lunga (In the end time, when it is time to fulfill the last wish, the skies will shake, the earth will tremble, increase the frequency of mantra, I will come and save you and the others)," a note read.
It also appears that the Delhi family genuinely believed that they would survive as a note states that they should help each other once the ritual is completed.
The Delhi police are now also investigating the presence of a 12th person, but it isn't known who this could be. Speaking of why the main door could have been left open, the police said that the family may have believed that some superpower would come and save them.
