Netflix's latest true-crime docuseries, House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths, revolves around India's infamous Burrari deaths, where eleven members of the same family, spanning three generations, were mysteriously found dead in their home.
Despite being ruled a mass suicide by law enforcement, their deaths are still considered a puzzle in their native Delhi, with speculation revolving around rituals and shared psychosis. As the Netflix tagline reads, was it: "Suicide, murder... or something else?"
Ahead of the three-part series, we take a closer look at the case that rocked the Indian capital, and examine some of the more chilling theories surrounding it.
What happened?
The Chundawat family (also known as the Bhatia family by their neighbors), had been living in Delhi's Burari area for around 20 years.
On the morning of July 1, 2018, around 7:15AM, when Bhavnesh Bhatia did not open his grocery shop at his usual time, neighbor, Gurcharan Singh, went to the family's residence to investigate. Singh — who also noticed that Lalit Bhatia did not turn up for their usual morning walk — then uncovered a chilling crime scene.
Ten of the eleven family members, two men, six women, and two teenagers, were found hanging in the courtyard of their home. Another family member was found strangled and deceased in another room.
The bodies that were found hanging had been blindfolded. Their faces were wrapped tightly with cloth cut from a bedsheet, their mouths were gagged, and their hands tied behind their back. Cotton buds were found stuffed in their ears.
Law enforcement noted that ten of them had used scarves featuring religious markings and cables to hang themselves on the five stools, which were shared between them. A post-mortem examination of six of the 11 deceased revealed no signs of struggle.
Their dog, Jacky, was found alive on the terrace — with neighbors reporting that they did not hear the animal bark over the course of the night.
The first policeman to enter the Bhatia household, head constable Rajeev Tomar, recalled per The Hindu, "In my career of 17 years so far, I have never seen a crime scene like this and I hope I do not ever have to."
"It was shocking," he continued. "I stayed only for 10-15 seconds before rushing downstairs to call my seniors. At the time I did not see whose hands were tied and whose eyes were covered. I just saw a lot of bodies hanging, just like branches of a tree."
Who were the Bhatias?
The Bhatia family was comprised of Bhavnesh Singh, 50, and his brother, Lalit Singh, 45, who lived in the house with their respective wives, Savita, 48, and Teena, 42.
Bhavnesh had three children, Nitu, 25, Monu, 23, and Dhruv, 15, while Lalit had one son, Shivam, 15. Bhavnesh and Lalit's aunt, Pratibha, 57, also lived in the house with her daughter, Priyanka, 33.
All of the above were found hanging in a circular formation on the first floor of the house, while the family's matriarch, Narayan Devi, 77, was found dead on the floor in a separate room.
Bhavnesh's elder son, who had left home three years before, was not present at the time of the tragedy, and is alive today.
The lingering death of Bhopal Singh
Much of the Burari deaths have been linked to the passing of Bhavnesh and Lalit's father, Bhopal Singh. In 2007, Bhopal died of natural causes, which resulted in Lalit becoming "very introverted... speaking less frequently to others and staying to himself," per sources at The Indian Express.
"Soon, he started offering prayers in front of trees, and feeding animals. One day, he told his family members that his father’s soul had entered his body and was advising him on steps to follow for a good life. Since 2013, he had been maintaining a diary on his father’s 'instructions'."
His family, who were reportedly very religious, believed him.
11 diaries and a quest for 'mass salvation'
While local police initially suspected homicide on account of how the family were found - gagged and blindfolded - the case became more complicated after they discovered 11 diaries, which were reportedly written by Lalit.
He had claimed that his father was communicating with him and instructed him to perform ''badh tapasya" or Banyan tree worship for the prosperity or "mass salvation" of the family.
As such, investigators suspected that a ritual had gone wrong, which led to an accidental "mass suicide".
According to The India Times, the diaries explained how the hangings should be carried out. "Everyone should be blindfolded properly, nothing but zenith should be visible to the eyes. A chunni or a sari should be used along with a rope" a translated excerpt reads.
Police corroborated that the way in which the bodies were discovered matched up to what was written in the notebooks, with an except detailing: "The elderly woman can’t stand so she can lie down in another room."
Joint Commissioner of Police Crime, Alok Kumar, said: "We have found handwritten notes detailing how hands and legs are to be tied and are quite similar to the manner in which the bodies of 10 persons were found. They are exhaustive notes and we are studying them."
Police eventually concluded that the family was not expecting to perish, citing a passage that stated "one will not die" but attain something "great".
It seems as if the Bhatias believed they would see Bhopal as soon as they hung themselves. There are references to the "sky shaping and the earth trembling" and a figure bringing them down to the ground. After that, they were apparently intending to untie each other.
Interestingly, another passage — "Everyone should think in one direction with more determination than last time. As this is done, the way forward will be paved" — indicates that the family had attempted the ritual in the past.
Claims of shared psychosis
At the time, a senior police officer indicated that law enforcement believe that the family could have been suffering from shared psychosis.
"Our interaction with psychologists has indicated that the family could be suffering from 'shared psychotic disorder' in which all the members in a group do the bidding of their leader as they trust them unconditionally and believe they would be led out of the worldly problems," they said, per The Hindustan Times.
Relatives of the Burari family, however, insist that their deaths were murder, and were not accidental or intentional suicide, per India Today.
"Someone killed them and all the reports on a spiritual angle are bogus. This family was a happy and peace-loving one who never believed in 'babas'," said a family member named Sujata.
Another relative, Ketan Nagpal, also suspected foul play, stating that they were "educated people and not superstitious. They were not facing any financial issues and had not taken even a single loan. Everything was fine. Why would they kill themselves?"
A third relation alleged that they had spoken to the Bhatias on the day of the tragedy, and that they sounded "normal", and did not show any signs of depression. "The family did not have enmity with anyone. But we suspect someone killed them," they added.
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