A diary with handwritten notes dating back to December last year was found by investigating officials at the house where 11 people were found dead in North Delhi’s Burari on Sunday morning.
The writings in the diary point to some occult practices that the family might be indulging in as most of the pages mention a roadmap to reach God. “Coincidentally, the notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes etc of the deceased were tied and taped,” a communique from the police read. Investigating officials said that last entry made was made on June 26 last week.
Of the 11, seven were women and two minor boys. The eldest of the deceased Narayan Devi (77) was found dead on the floor of the adjacent room while 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) were found hanging facing each other, most of them blindfolded and all of them mouth-taped with hands and legs tied with wires and bedsheets.
Neighbours, however, said that it was impossible for such a happy family to commit mass suicide as they were gearing up for Priyanka’s wedding in December. The legs of the 10 hanging were almost touching the ground raising suspicion. Various theories floated around from murder to a suicide pact to many even claiming that an outsider had committed the murder, however, no one had any clarity on the motive.
The manner in which white tapes and sheets were used to cover the face of the deceased raised several questions as to how all of them managed to die in a similar manner. The discovery of the diary from their residence cleared a lot of doubts but simultaneously raised some doubts as well.
On one of the pages in the diary is written: “Bhagwaan ka raasta” (Road to God). The discovery of eight mobile phones from the drawer of the pooja room with tapes on them raised doubts. Even the cash and some of the jewellery were found taped and safely kept in the drawer. An officer privy to the investigation said that the mobile phones were also kept away and taped as mentioned in the diary to keep distractions away.
