11 members of a family were found dead at their home in July. (Archive)
Eleven members of a family who were found hanging at their residence in Burari on July 1 were conducting a “ritual” before their deaths, said the psychological autopsy report received by the Crime Branch from the CBI’s Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) Wednesday.
In July, the Crime Branch had approached the CBI’s CFSL to ascertain the mental condition of the family. When contacted, DCP (crime) Joy Tirkey confirmed that they received the report. “They had not planned to commit suicide,” said a police officer.
On July 1, Narayani Devi (77), her sons Bhuvanesh (50) and Lalit (45), daughters-in-law Savita (48) and Teena (42), daughter Pratibha (57), and grandchildren Priyanka (33), Nidhi (25), Maneka (23), Dhruv (15) and Shivam (15) were found dead.
During the autopsy, three experts from the CFSL recorded statements of relatives and neighbours. They also studied the autopsy report of each family member and visited the house.
Police said the Crime Branch is yet to receive the viscera report, as well as a report from handwriting experts. During investigation, police had recovered over 10 notebooks from the house, in which the activities of every family member was recorded. In two of the registers, there were notes on how to attain moksha (salvation).
Police had suspected that the family was affected by a shared psychosis disorder. As per sources, Lalit had claimed visits from his dead father and would dictate things to his family members.