Eleven members from the Chundavat family (known as Bhatia family in their locality), living in Delhi’s Sant Nagar Burari area were found dead on July 1, 2018.  Initial investigations suggest the family members ended up committing suicide while allegedly performing a ritual to attain salvation.

The list of diseased persons includes Narayan Devi (77), her two sons Lalit (45) and Bhavnesh (50), Bhavnesh's wife Savita (48), and Lalit's wife Tina (42).  The list also includes Narayan Devi's daughter Pratibha (57), Bhavnesh's children Dhruv (15), Nidhi (25), Monika (23), and Lalit Bhatia's son Shivam (15), as well as Pratibha's daughter Priyanka (33). When cops reached the crime scene, they found that everyone else’s hands were tied, except for Lalit, Tina, and Bhavnesh’s. Narayan Devi’s body was found lying in the adjacent room on the first floor. She committed suicide with the help of a belt. Post-mortem reports do not indicate any foul play.

Crime Branch officials have done a remarkable job by analyzing handwritten notes from registers and diaries, CCTV footage. They have also roped in renowned psychologists to work on the case. Over 200 people, including close relatives, have already been questioned so far.

Lalit's elder brother, (Narayan Devi's elder son) Dinesh Singh Chundavat and sister Sujata have refused to accept the police's mass suicide theory. They suggest, these are mass murders as their family members were educated and never indulged in any rituals.

Investigators believe that it's a case of mass suicide and Narayan Devi’s younger son probably hypnotized other family members to commit the bizarre ritual that led to everyone’s death.  The autopsy report for ten family members out of eleven also suggests they died due to hanging. The post-mortem reports point out 'hanging' as the case of death. They were not sedated, and no traces of poison were found in their body.

The deadly combination of psychotic disorder and belief in superstition resulted in the death of eleven members of the same family. As one slowly tries to understand the strangeness of the case, one is compelled to compare the incident with stories from the iconic show, the X-Files.  The following seven nerve-racking aspects of this case have managed to scare everyone.

All the members of Bhatia family followed Lalit's orders

Lalit Bhatia, Narayan Devi’s younger son, is said to be the person who planned the weird ritual that resulted in eleven people’s death.

Another spooky aspect about Lalit highlighted by the investigators is that he had started speaking in his father voice during the last few months. Lalit’s father Bhopal Singh had passed away in 2008. However, the younger son of Narayan Devi often used to say that his father's soul interacted with him. He maintained diaries in which he often jotted down things which he claimed were told by his dead father. Strangely, all the members of the family had a firm belief in Lalit and followed his orders, perhaps, because all his financial suggestions, including the decision to start the plywood business, had yielded positive results. The family owned and operated a grocery shop as well as a plywood business.

Handwritten notes helped in pulling all the strings together

The handwritten notes in the diaries and registers completed the void left due to the absence of a suicide note.  Notes helped the police to link the ritual with the scene of the crime. Diary entries even pointed out the position that every family member needs to take while performing the 'badh tapasya.' As per notes, this practice required the family members to hang like the branches of a banyan tree. (Family members were found hanging in the same position).

The last entry in the diary, dated June 30, clearly states the plan for performing a ritual that wiped out the eleven members of the Bhatia family. The entry titled ‘Road to God’ suggested ten people be hanged on the iron mesh while Narayan Devi can strangulate herself on her bed as she cannot stand on the stool. It also suggests that the final act was to be performed at 1 AM.  While performing the ritual, ears must be closed with cotton buds; wet clothes must be stuffed in the mouth and hands need to be tied. The face needs to be covered with bandages and scarfs and motifs.  The diary entry also claimed that Lalit’s dead father would save them at the last moment and untie everyone.

Investigators have revealed that the handwriting in the notes matches with that of Lalit and his niece Priyanka who was recently engaged. The diaries also contain some bizarre notes that point towards the occult angle.

CCTV footage would play a vital role in concluding the case

Cops have gathered footage from various security cameras installed in front of the Bhatia house as well as at the entrance of the property. Images clearly show family members bringing plastic stools that were used in the act. It indicated that there was a plan in place to conduct the ritual. Sadly, even the children can be seen bringing the wires in the house which the family used for hanging. 

Overall, family members were very calm on the day of the incident. Even the local hotel’s food delivery boy who delivered 20 chapatis at the house on the night of June 30 said the same.

Most importantly, the footage retrieved from the house’s security cameras show that no one entered the house between 11: 30 PM to 6:30 AM on the next day. 

Eleven pipes and eleven deaths

The case consists of many pieces of evidence that have left the Delhi police spooked. One of the most unusual factors was the presence of eleven pipes that were installed on the property’s left side wall. The weird aspect is that these pipes are not connected to any water outlet or inlet.

Seven of them can be seen turned downwards, and the remaining four pipes are straight. Coincidently, out of the total persons who committed suicide, seven were female, and four were male. Reports suggest that even the crime branch investigators were bemused due to the presence of such pipes.

After looking at the images and videos about these pipes, the first oblivious point that comes to everyone's mind is that pipes were probably set up for ventilation purpose. The carpenter working at the property for their ongoing renovation project also shared the same opinion. However, even he was puzzled when asked about the logic behind installing precisely eleven of such pipes.

Old-timers in the house’s neighborhood were quick to suggest that these eleven pipes seem to be like passages for spirits to escape after death.

Psychologists believe family members were suffering from a shared psychotic disorder

They were probably brainwashed, mesmerized, and hypnotized to believe that they won’t die. A person who is unwell has mental illness can easily do the same. Investigators think the family might be the victim of a medical condition called shared psychotic disorder. Delusions and hallucinations are the main symptoms of this disorder. Any person suffering from the same often hears and sees things that are not true. While studying various aspects of the case, the investigators feel Lalit’s behavior did show the symptoms of this disorder.

The disorder can also happen to the group of people who live with an individual suffering from a shared psychotic disorder. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘the madness of many.’

“Even one family member suffering from psychological illness can prove to be lethal. The family members of the person suffering from the shared psychotic disorder are prone to fall prey to the wrong suggestions given by the patient. In Bhatia family’s case, Lalit was psychotic,” said Psychiatrist Dr. Aruna Broota while sharing her opinion about the case with journalists.

Comparison with Kanchan Singh family mass suicide case

The incident reminded many about the photographer Kanchan Singh family mass suicide. The suicides had happened in Rajasthan's Gangapur city back in March 2013. The family had allegedly committed suicide to meet Lord Shiva and attain salvation.

But the main difference between these two cases is that Kanchan Singh’s family preferred living in isolation. They hardly use to interact with anyone or allow any of their neighbors to enter their house. On the other hand, the Bhatia family always loved socializing. All of the family’s neighbors shared a favorable opinion about them during the police investigation. 

Cops under stress

“Nothing could have conceivably prepared them, for what they found.”

This tale has to be one of the most bizarre cases of mass murder, mass suicide the country has ever seen. Not just neighbors, but even the police officials deployed at the crime spot agreed they had sleepless nights and felt stressed, as they had never seen such an incident before. One of the seniors at Burari police station said they are planning to conduct stress buster sessions for their officials after a few days.