A day after 11 members of a family were found hanging in their home in Burari’s Sant Nagar, the police on Monday said that they have recovered two notebooks that contain a detailed account on what the family did prior to allegedly committing suicide.
“We have found handwritten notes detailing how hands and legs are to be tied... quite similar to the manner in which the bodies of 10 of the 11 deceased were found. They are exhaustive notes and we are studying them,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar.
The police said that the notes seem to have been written by 45-year-old Lalit, one of the deceased.
Dreams of his father
Lalit allegedly used to claim that his deceased father would often come to him in his dreams and give him instructions, said the police. Lalit wrote down that he was following his father’s instructions when he took a decision to organise ‘baar (banyan tree) puja’ on the night of June 30 (Saturday).
“Lalit arranged everything for the puja. Almost every step mentioned in the notes seems to be have been religiously followed by the family,” said a police officer.
“The puja was arranged to achieve salvation and meet the father. There are also notes on how the human body is temporary but the soul lives on. The family believed that the moment they hanged themselves and began gasping for breath, they would see Lalit’s father and he would save them,” said a police official.
The formation in which the bodies were found hanging was like the branches of a banyan tree, said the police.
The notes said that during the puja, mobile phones should not be used and food has to be ordered from the outside. The notes also said that everyone should cover their eyes, ears and mouth during the puja.
The main person will look after everyone who were performing the puja and he will follow the same procedure at the end, read the notes.
The police have recovered seven mobile phones and one tablet from the house. All phones were in silent mode. “We are analysing call records of the family to find out if the family was in touch with any spiritual guru or occultist,” said a police officer.
A family friend said that Lalit had lost his voice several years ago after being attacked by one of his business partners. Later, Lalit had a dream about his father who allegedly asked him to do certain prayers.
“After he performed the prayers, he got his voice back. The incident had a severe impact on Lalit and his family,” said the friend.
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