Burari deaths: Final autopsy report confirms all 11 family members died of hanging

The Delhi Police on Thursday received the final autopsy report of Narayan Devi, 77, one of the 11 members of the Bhatia family who was found dead inside their Burari home on July 1.

Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (crime), said that doctors who performed the autopsy have confirmed that she too died of hanging. “With this, the board of doctors have now confirmed that all the people in the house died due to hanging,” said Kumar, adding that nothing in the reports pointed to foul play.

The police had received the autopsy reports of the other 10 members on Tuesday. But the doctors took two additional days to arrive at an opinion on Devi’s death. “The board of doctors took their time and have given us a considered final opinion,” Kumar said about the delay.

While 10 members of the family were found hanging on the morning of July 1, Devi’s body was found on the floor in an adjacent room, initially prompting the police to suspect that she might have been murdered. The initial autopsy report of Devi indicated that she died due to partial hanging.

Based on the evidence from the death spot, the police believed that Devi was hanged from a door handle. A cloth and a wire were found around her neck.

Kumar said the manner of the deaths is consistent with the contents of the notes recovered from the Bhatia household. “The locations of the body, the way they were tied and many other factors are mentioned in the notes. CCTV footage too has indicated that they hanged themselves,” said Kumar.

Kumar said the activities of the family were being documented in notes since 2007, when Devi’s husband Bhopal Singh died.

“There was a certain thought process since 2007. The deaths appear to be in continuity of the same thought process. The autopsy reports have given a direction to our probe,” he said.

He said that the probe into the deaths was continuing and no role of a godman or tantrik has emerged so far. “We have sent the viscera samples for forensic examination to determine if the family was poisoned or sedated before the hanging,” said the officer.

The officer said a “psychological autopsy” of the dead would be conducted by speaking to relatives, friends and neighbours of the Bhatia family to know why exactly they killed themselves.