Burari deaths: Psychological autopsy report of deceased concurs with Delhi police probe

The psychological autopsy report of the 11 members of the Chundawat family who were found dead under mysterious circumstances in North Delhi's Burari on July 1, concurs with Delhi police probe into the case, an official said.

It states that Lalit Chundawat had encouraged the other family members to follow a set of rituals to find a way to God, he said.

The police had written to the CBI in July to conduct the psychological autopsy and received the report on Wednesday evening, the official said.

A couple of other reports are also awaited from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, CBI, and they would be studied in tandem with the psychological report, he said.

Psychological autopsy attempts to study a person's mental state by analysing medical records, interviewing friends and family and conducting research into their state of mind prior to death, police said.

The officer said the CBI, who were handed over the diaries the family had written over a span of 11 years which talked about attaining God, concurred with the police investigation.

According to sources, the police, during investigation, had found that one of the members, Lalit Chundawat, had visitations from his dead father and would dictate certain things to his family members.

The psychological autopsy report has also highlighted these observations, they said.

Ten of the 11 members of the family were found hanging from an iron mesh in the ceiling of the house, while the body of 77-year-old Narayan Devi, the head of the family, was lying on the floor in another room of the house.

Her daughter Pratibha (57) and her two sons - Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45) - were among the deceased.

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

Others who were found hanging were Lalit's wife Tina (42), their 15-year-old son Dushyant and Pratibha's daughter Priyanka, who was engaged last month and was to marry by the year-end.