HOUSE OF SECRETS: BURARI DEATHS

It was when surfing through Netflix, I came across the docu-series titled THE HOUSE OF SECRETS: BURARI DEATHS. As a person who is not that much into Docu-series, I continued scrolling down without much thinking. But not being able to find anything pleasing, I went back to the series and gave it a try and Voila, My decision bore fruit. The series with three episodes refer to the death of eleven members of a family. 

            On the morning of 1 July 2018, the neighbour of the Burari family, Gurucharan Singh came looking for Lalit Chundawat, one of the deceased, for a morning walk, which they usually did. Unable to find him that day, he went to Chundawat residence and what he witnessed was horrible. He never expected something of that sort, not even once in his dreams. He found 10 people, including Lalit, hanging on the roof. He called the police and that's how the case that shook the entire Nation took room.

                     The ten consisted of two men, six women and two teens- all of which were found hanging from a mesh in their hall. Their faces were covered, ears were clogged with cotton, mouths covered, hands tied. The eleventh member, the eldest of the family, Narayani Devi, mother of Lalit was found dead in another room. It is understood that she had been strangled. Their pet dog Tommy, was the only survivor then. But, he died of a heart attack weeks later. 

       The police started the investigation and registered it as a case of murder due to the massive pressure from the Public and relatives, even though the deaths pointed to Mass suicide. The Investigation team found out 11 diaries, preserved for eleven years. These diaries were the solitary evidence for the police to prove this case as the case of Mass suicide. The notes had all the details regarding how one should be tied, in which order they should be hanging etc.  

" Everyone will tie their own hands and when the kritya(rituals) is done then everyone will help each other untie their hands", the notes said, which means they were not expecting to die.

           The Handwritten notes had everything the police needs to know. The Cops understood that the roots of this plight go back to the death of Bhopal Singh, husband of Narayani Devi. After the death of Bhopal Singh, Lalit became timid and he told his family that he possesses his father's soul. Those 11 diaries held the instructions his father had told him to achieve a promising life.

        The investigation came to an end when the psychologists noted that these deaths are the result of 'delusional disorder'( When a person blindly believes another and does not question any of his/her beliefs.), which Lalit was suffering from and the family had shared delusional disorder along with him and followed all his instructions. The case was terminated as all the evidence pointed out to Mass suicide.

The rarest of rarest.

Creepy!

- Namratha