Burari deaths: No signs of struggle found in post-mortem examination, says police

New Delhi: The post-mortem examination of six of the 11 people, who were found dead at their house in north Delhi’s Burari, has revealed there were no signs of struggle, a senior police officer said today.

Eleven members of a family, including seven women and two children, were found dead under mysterious circumstances at their residence yesterday. The post-mortem examination of six persons, including the two children, has been carried out and so far, police have not found any signs of strangulation or scuffle, according to the officer.

Police suspect that the deaths were part of a suicide pact, carried out in accordance with a religious practice, as handwritten notes found on the spot indicated. Some of the notes stated that “one will not die” but attain something “great”, the officer said.

Ten of those dead were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling for ventilation, while the body of a 77-year-old woman was lying on the floor in another room of the house, police said. Those who were found hanging had their mouth taped and their faces covered with cloth pieces cut from a single bed sheet.

The face of the woman found dead on the floor was not covered and she had been allegedly strangulated, police said, adding that her post- mortem examination is underway. The bodies will be handed over to the family for last rites this afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Narayan Devi (77), who was found dead on the floor, her daughter Pratibha (57), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45). Bhavnesh’s wife Savita (48) and their three children – Meenu (23), Nidhi (25) and Dhruv (15) were among the deceased.

Lalit Bhatia’s wife Tina (42) and their 15-year-old son Shivam were also among those found dead along with Pratibha’s daughter Priyanka (33), who was engaged last month and supposed to get married this year end.

Locals had said Meenu was preparing for entrance exams and Nidhi was pursuing her Masters. Except for Narayan Devi, the others were found hanging from the iron-mesh in the ceiling, police said.