New Delhi: Eleven members of a family, including two minor boys, were found dead under mysterious circumstances at their home in India's capital city Delhi on Sunday, with the police suspecting the family followed some religious practice to "attain salvation".
Ten of those dead were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling for ventilation, while the body of a 77-year-old woman was lying on the floor in another room of the house, the police said. Two of the deceased were children - both aged 15.
Those who were found hanging had their mouth taped and their faces covered with cloth pieces cut from a single bedsheet. The woman found dead on the floor was without a blindfold and had been allegedly strangulated.
The hands and feet of the children were tied, the police said, adding that stools were found overturned at the spot.
The police found handwritten notes which indicated a "religious or spiritual angle" to the deaths. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Vinit Kumar said a probe would be conducted to find "if the family indulged in occult practices" or they followed "any godman".
"We have found handwritten notes detailing how hands and legs are to be tied and the manner in which the bodies of the ten persons were found reflected what was written in the notes. They are exhaustive notes, and we are studying them," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar said.
Another officer said the notes were found in registers. "They talk about how a person can overcome fear by covering eyes and mouth, how a person can attain salvation, and how the human body is temporary but the soul continues to live on," he said.
While a murder case has been registered, the police suspect the deaths to be a case of a suicide pact.
According to the police, they were informed by a neighbour that six to seven people had committed suicide in Burari. On reaching the spot, they found 11 people were dead.
The deceased were identified as Narayan Devi, who was found dead on the floor, her daughter Pratibha (57), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45).
Bhavnesh's wife Savita (48) and their three children - Meenu (23), Nidhi (25) and Dhruv (15).
Lalit Bhatia's wife Tina (42) and their 15-year-old son Shivam were also among those found dead.
Pratibha's daughter Priyanka (33), who was engaged last month and would have married by the end of this year, was also found hanging.
Bhavnesh ran a grocery store on the ground floor of the house. He used to open his shop around 6 am, the family's neighbour Amrik Singh said.
A senior police official said the crime branch would investigate the case from all angles. The police have not ruled out the possibility of a foul play.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari visited the Burari colony where the incident took place.
The family was also into plywood business. They were living in the locality for more than 20 years, residents said.
The post-mortem examination of the bodies is being carried out, the police said, adding that the report will give a clue about whether one of the family members killed the rest and then committed suicide or if the deaths were a result of a suicide pact.