The family was ‘rehearsing’ for ritual: Police

NEW DELHI : Eleven members of a family, who were found dead in a house in Burari on Sunday morning, were apparently trying to replicate the hanging roots of a banyan tree or ‘vat tapasya’ (worshipping of a banyan tree), said an investigator, referring to handwritten notes recovered from the house.

The notes also suggest that the family had not only enlisted the steps in which they would hang themselves but also been rehearsing them to get it right when the time was ripe for the actual ritual, the investigator said.

Nine of the 11 members of the Bhatia family were found hanging from the iron frame in the roof meant for ventilation, police said on Monday.

“The notes repeatedly mentioned about performing ‘vat tapasya’ (worshipping the banyan tree). It made special mention of worshipping the hanging roots of the banyan tree. As per the notes, the ritual performers were to hang in a formation that would replicate the hanging roots of a banyan tree,” the investigator.

An analysis of the 50 pages of the notes has suggested that they were written by 45-year-old Lalit Bhatia who was among the dead, since 2015.

“The handwritings match that of Lalit. The dates of which the notes had been taken were mentioned at many places,”investigator said.“at others, it had been omitted. The frequency of writing the notes had increased since January. The last date mentioned in the notes is June 25,” said the investigator.

The police are scanning the CCTV footage from a banquet hall where the family had on June 17 organised the engagement ceremony of Priyanka, a 33-year-old woman who was among the dead. “We are checking if a godman or an occultist came to the celebration,” said an investigator.

Though the initial notes did not suggest hanging from the ceiling, but they point out that the family had been tying the hands, covering the eyes and mouth and plugging the ears with cotton — the ritualistic steps.

Some notes spoke of the family members untying each other after the ‘rehearsal’, police said.

A senior officer, who is privy to the probe, said Lalit seemed to be the one leading the ritual.

“He wrote about dreaming about his father who died years ago and taking instructions about property, business and family responsibilities from him. He would attribute all the ritualistic activities to ‘upar se aadesh’ (orders from the higher powers),” said the officer.