Burari Case: Elderly Woman’s Post-Mortem Says She Died by Hanging

Seventy-seven-year-old Narayan Devi died due to hanging like the other 10 members of the Burari family, according to her post-mortem report.

(Photo: Arnica Kala/The Quint)

Seventy-seven-year-old Narayan Devi died due to hanging like the other 10 members of the Burari family, according to her post-mortem report.

The bodies of 10 members of the family were found hanging from an iron mesh attached to the ceiling on 1 July, while that of Narayan Devi was found lying on the floor in another room of the house.

A belt was found near Narayan Devi's body, a Delhi police official said.

The report has ruled out any foul play and said that she died due to “ante-mortem” hanging, he added.

Speaking to The Quint, Alok Kumar, JT CP Crime said:

Post-mortem done by the board of doctors suggests ante-mortem injuries. It means death due to suicide. It is on these lines that we were working. The documents also show that nine people will hang themselves near the grilles, another girl to hang herself near the window and the lady in the third room. Doctors have given their final report. No baba has been found involved.

He added, “CCTV footage shows them bringing stools and the wires. Documents also showed that the Pooja will be done around 1am. And the timing also shows that. Investigation is on. We are waiting for the viscera report. We have got the direction from the post-mortem report. We will be conducting a psychological autopsy.”

Police had already received the post-mortem reports of the other 10 members.

The post-mortem reports of the 10 other members of the Chundawant family said they died due to hanging and no external injury marks were found on the bodies except for a few scratches, an officer said.

"The final opinion states that the family members died due to ante-mortem hanging," he added.

Narayan Devi's daughter Pratibha (57) and two sons – Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45) – were among the deceased.

Bhavnesh's wife Savita (48) and their three children – Neetu (25), Maneka (23) and Dhirendra (15) – were also found dead.

The others found dead were Lalit's wife Tina (42), their 15-year-old son Dushyant and Pratibha's daughter Priyanka, who got engaged last month and was supposed to get married by the year-end.

The police had also found 11 diaries, which contained "psychological musings" and certain things written about the "road to god".

(With PTI inputs.)