Burari deaths: The house where the bodies were found, in the Burari area of North Delhi, on Sunday. (Photo: Gajendra Yadav)
Ruling out foul play, the post-mortem report of the ten people found dead under mysterious circumstances at their home in Burari on July 1 mentioned that they died due to hanging, reported PTI. However, the post-mortem report of the 11th member of the Chundawat family, 77-year-old Narayan Devi, whose body was recovered from an adjacent room, is still awaited. The initial autopsy report had said that all 11 members died of hanging and there were no signs of a struggle.
PTI quoted a police officer as saying that the post-mortem report said 10 members of the family died due to hanging and no external injury marks were found on the bodies except for a few scratches. The Delhi Police has also sent the viscera of the bodies for forensic examination to check if the family members were poisoned.
Ten of the 11 members of the deceased family were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling of the house. (Express photo)
“The final opinion states that the family members died due to ante-mortem hanging. We are waiting for Narayan Devi’s report,” the officer added. Last week, Delhi Police had said they would conduct a psychological autopsy of the 11 people after the post-mortem report.
A psychological autopsy attempts to study a deceased person’s mental state by analysing medical records, interviewing friends and family and conducting research into their state of mind prior to death. Till last week, police had questioned over 100 people in connection with the deaths.
Ten of the 11 members of the deceased family were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling of the house, while the body of Narayan Devi, the head of the family, was lying on the floor in another room of the house. Her daughter Pratibha (57) and her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45) were among the deceased.
Relatives at Nigambodh Ghat during the cremation of the bodies. (Amit Mehra)
Bhavnesh’s wife Savita (48) and their three children – Maneka (23), Neetu (25), and Dhirendra (15) were also found dead. Others who were found hanging were Lalit’s wife Tina (42), their 15-year-old son Dushyant and Pratibha’s daughter Priyanka, who was engaged last month and was to marry by year-end.
Last week, police had retrieved CCTV camera footage that showed some family members bringing stools and wires that were used for their hanging. They had also found 11 diaries which had “psychological musings” and things about attaining “road to God”.