Relatives and neighbours on Monday refused to believe that the Bhatias committed suicide and insisted that the 11 members of the family were murdered. They said that they had never witnessed any occult activity at the family’s house.
‘No black magic’
“I can never believe that the family was under the influence of black magic. It is all fake. I used to often chat with Lalit and his mother while at their shop. They were decent people and never had any argument with others in the locality,” said Sukhvinder, a neighbour.
“There must be a bad situation that they refused to speak about and preferred to commit suicide. The theory of occultism given by the media and the police is baseless. The case should be handled professionally to find out the truth behind the deaths,” said Kishore, another neighbour.
On Monday, locals spotted 11 pipes protruding from one of the walls of the house. The discovery sparked several theories.
The pipes face an empty plot and are apparently not outlets for water. Four of the pipes point straight while seven are bent. Among the deceased, seven were women and four were men.
Locals said the configuration of the pipes was similar to the formation in which the bodies were found.
“The contractor who built the house said the pipes were installed on Lalit’s instructions,” said a local.
