Early on July 1, 2018, following the death, the bodies were discovered. The deaths, according to the police, were caused by psychosis or shared delusion.

The Chundawat family, referred to by their neighbours as the Bhatia family, had relocated from their hometown of Tohana, Haryana, and had been residing in the three-story home in the Sant Nagar neighbourhood of Burari for about twenty years. In the neighbourhood, the family had a grocery store and a plywood company. The members of the family were:

1. Narayani Devi (80), mother of Bhuvnesh, Lalit and Pratibha.
2. Pratibha Bhatia (57), widowed daughter of Narayani Devi.
3. Bhuvnesh (50, also spelled as Bhavnesh), elder son of Narayani Devi.
4. Lalit (45), younger son of Narayani Devi.
5. Savita (48), elder daughter-in-law of Narayani Devi, wife of Bhuvnesh.
6. Tina (42, also spelled as Teena), younger daughter-in-law of Narayani Devi, wife of Lalit.
7. Priyanka (33), only daughter of Pratibha.
8. Nitu (25, also spelled as Neetu), elder daughter of Bhuvnesh.
9. Monu (called "Menaka") (23), younger daughter of Bhuvnesh.
10. Dhruv (called "Dushyant") (15), only son and youngest child of Bhuvnesh.
11. Shivam (15), son and only child of Lalit.

Bhopal Singh, the father of Lalit Chundawat, passed away naturally in 2007. When their father passed away, Lalit turned into a highly reclusive person. He revealed to his family one day that his father's soul had taken possession of him and was giving him life advice. He, Priyanka, and Nitu have been keeping a journal about his father's "instructions" since 2007.

DISCOVERY OF BODIES

The neighbour Gurcharan Singh, who would often go for morning walks with one of the deceased, visited the Chundawat residence early on July 1, 2018, at approximately 7:15 a.m. He observed that Lalit Chundawat had not shown up for the morning walk and that the Chundawats' stores remained closed. The stores used to open between five and five thirty in the morning. Gurcharan Singh discovered the ten individuals, including Lalit Chundawat, hanging and the door of the house open. He called other neighbours to provide an alert. The call was received by the police about 7:30 am.

SUICIDES

Ten of the eleven individuals—six women, two teenagers, and two men—were discovered hanging in the home's courtyard. Their mouths were taped shut and they were blinded. However, some have asserted that the dead killed himself in order to find redemption and that the family was involved in occult practices. The head of the Bhatia household, Narayani Devi (77), was discovered dead in a separate room. Analysing the arrangement of the pipes reveals that just one—which was bent, purportedly to symbolise a female—was positioned apart from the other ten. Likewise, the corpses of Pratibha (57) and Priyanka (33), the granddaughter of Narayani, were discovered dangling from the air conditioning window. Additionally, two twisted pipes were discovered separated from the other eight."

There were some corpses with their hands and feet bound. Narayani Devi, the 80-year-old grandmother, was discovered dead in a different room. She looked as though she had been choked.

Family members were discovered hanging closely together from a net on their hallway ceiling. Their hands were tied behind their backs, mouths taped, ears filled with cotton, and nearly all of their faces bandaged. The ten people most likely shared the five stools. Pieces of fabric cut from a single bedsheet covered their faces.

The only other survivor in the home was Tommy, the family's favourite dog. When the police found him after finding the 11 bodies, he was chained on the terrace and suffering from a high temperature. It was unclear who had bound him. After being rescued, he was transferred to Noida's House of Stray Animals, where he was reportedly recuperating.

INVESTIGATION

There was evidence of mass suicide committed for occult purposes within the house. The corpses' post-mortem examination revealed no indications of struggle. Police first listed the case as a murder and looked into the possibility of a murder motivated by non-occult motivations due to the case's public notoriety, pressure from hardline groups, and suspicions of coverup from family.

Eleven diaries, kept for a total of eleven years, were discovered by the police inside the home. "We have found handwritten notes detailing how hands and legs were tied and are quite similar to the manner in which the bodies of ten persons are found," said Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime). We are examining these comprehensive notes.

The journals' descriptions of the dead' taped mouths, cotton balls in their ears, and covered faces correspond with how the bodies were discovered. The diaries also mention that the bodies were found hanging in groups of three. The old woman, Bebe, was discovered strangled on the bed, which was consistent with the diary's statement that she was unable to stand and should thus be lying on the bed. The diary also states that "everyone will tie their own hands and everyone will help each other untie their hands when the kriya (ritual) is done," suggesting that the family did not anticipate passing away.

ROLE OF LALIT

These journals, according to handwriting analysis, were written by Priyanka, Pratibha's daughter, and Nitu, Bhuvnesh's oldest daughter. However, Lalit claims that his late father's spirit dictated them to him. Lalit is thought to have planned the whole thing. The criminal branch thinks that Lalit did the family members' hand and leg binding on his own. Lalit had explained to the family that his father's soul had taken up residence in his body in an attempt to persuade them to follow him.

PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW

Psychologists believe that this series of events may be the result of "shared psychotic disorder," in which members heedlessly carry out one member's commands. They contend that Lalit suffered from a "delusional disorder." Their older brother, who resides in Rajasthan, thinks that this was a well-thought-out murder rather than a suicide. He declared that Lalit and his wife's hands ought to be free rather than bound if they were responsible for the entire situation.

When though it was ruled as psychosis or shared delusion it is still a mystery if it was murder, suicide or something else.

.    .    .