CHILD WARNING EFFORTPOST The Burari Deaths. Suicide, Murder, or Accident? -write-up-

Introduction

Many of you have probably already seen this video, usually accompanied by a brief explanation. However, thanks to a newly released Netflix documentary a lot of information about the case and the nature of the psychosis which caused it has come out. For those who don't wish to sit through true-crime slop, I've decided to condense all the important information here.

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The Deceased

In the video, you are seeing the Chundawat family. An extended family unit of 11 people who had been living in a three story house at the Burari Sant Nagar Neighborhood in India. They primarily consisted of the descendents of Narayani Dev (80) and her deceased husband, Bhopal Singh, who died in 2007. A few inlaws also occupied the house. The eradication of this family unit covered 3 different generations, ranging from the 15 year old Shivam, to the 80 year old Narayani Devi.

The family were quite prosperous for the standards of their town. They ran 2 popular convenience stores, one of the sons (Lalit) owned a successful Plywood business, and one of the daughters (Privkaya) had a well paying job with a multinational company and was soon to be married. The family were also religiously devout, with neighbours claiming the family would go and visit the local temple twice a day. They were also well liked with their community with one of their neighbours, Gurcharan Singh, claiming he got along with them very well as the families helped each other build their houses all the way back in 1997. It was this same neighbour that would discover the family's corpses.

(July 1st, 2018) During his morning walk, Gurcharan Singh noticed the family failed to take in a large box a milk that was sent in every morning for one of their stores. By 7:00AM the milk was spoiling and he decided to check up on the family to let them know. He knocked on their front door, only to discover it was unlocked, he let himself in and climbed up the stairs where he saw the horrific sight. He recounts standing there for 2 minutes in shock.

As he ran out of the house, he was unable to hide his panic from the neighbours and the entire area soon found out something horrible had happened. In minutes, the house was swarmed by the local community before the police arrived, it is thought that the video we see here was taken by one of the neighbours who entered the house before the police could barre the entrance.

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Voices from the Dead

The reasoning for the death was soon found out thanks to a number of diaries scattered around the house dating back to 2007, as well as testimony from neighbours and extended family members. The diaries details over a decade of mounting mass delusion in the household, where they all believed they were being guided by the spirit of their dead patriarch, Bhopal Singh, who used his son Lalit as a medium.

The foundation for this mass delusion however, began in 2004 before Bhopal Singh's death. In 2004, Lalit was attacked for unknown reasons as he was working in his plywood store. He was beaten badly and was stuck inside the store after it was set on fire. He suffered a head injury, and the smoke he inhaled as he lay there half-conscious, destroyed his voice making it so he could not speak at all.

However, after the death of his father he heard his voice speak to him. It commanded the entire family to recite the “Hanuman Chalisa” every day at 10:00PM. Soon the voice extended the routine to a few times a day. For months the family would gather to recite this hymn. One day however, the family were shocked when they suddenly heard Lalit's voice mixed in with theirs, Lalit was not even aware his voice had returned until he finished the hymn and saw the shocked look on his family's faces. It was most likely this miracle that would instil the devotion that would spiral into mass delusion.

Lalit did not stop hearing his dead fathers voice after his own voice was restored however. He continued to hear his father give him and the family instructions on how they could conduct their lives. The diaries were not a personal diary for Lalit, but rather, acted as a guidebook for the entire family where they were expected to read and follow what was written within it. Here are some excerpts from the diary showing the level of obedience that was expected from the family.

”After I leave, all of you must go to sleep. No need for discussions. My visits are not an ordinary occurrence. You must not take God's will lightly. Don't worry about Lalit's health, my visits affect him physically. Sleep will heal him.”

and

”Instead of your own will follow the will of the diary. ‘Don't think, what is the use?' When it actually happens, your eyes will open. My next visit will be on Thursday or Saturday. Be fully ready.”

Neighbours recount how after their fathers death, the families shops and businesses started prospering, and Priyanka got her well paying job. In hindsight, people believe that the family may have attributed their recent prosperity to the instructions of their dead father. As Lalit was to act as the medium for their patriarchs instructions, he soon became an authority figure in the household, with their neighbour Chander Metha noting

“The family considered his word final.” and his wife Pritpal Kaur adding “Whatever he said was obeyed by all.”

Most of the instructions were quite inane. Telling family members to stop fighting, telling one of the children to stop playing on their phone so much, for example

December 24, 2017 “Dhruv is spending too much time on the mobile phone. This must be corrected.”

However one day, the voice would demand something that cost the family their lives.

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The Banyan Tree Ritual

Within the diary, the ritual that would be performed and eventually lead to the family's death was detailed. Written on June 24th, 2018 the instructions detailed a ritual wherein the families were to tie their necks to an iron grate in the family courtyard while someone else was entrusted with blindfolding, gagging, and tying their hands together. They were to stand atop stools, and recite some sort of chant as Lalit watched on, prompting them with a stick. The ritual is called “the Banyan Tree ritual” as the hanging bodies would resemble the hanging roots of a Banyan tree. The most direct reference to the ritual from the diaries I could find are quoted here.

”Perform the ritual for seven consecutive days. If somebody visits the home it has to be performed the next day. Nothing should be visible. Dim lights should be used. The eyes should be completely shut. The blindfold should be properly tied to the eyes. The mouth should be gagged by a handkerchief. The state of mind has to be zero. Nothing but infinity. While you are standing at attention. Imagine the branches of the tree are wrapping themselves around you. Perform the Banyan tree ritual with unity and determination. This will help repent for your mistakes”*

Later on in the same entry

”God is pleased with you. Knowing that 11 of you are standing in one line, with one thought. Do not panic while performing the Banyan tree ritual. The earth might shake, the sky might tremble. Do not let this weaken your resolve. Convince the children to keep chanting. The chanting may last from 5-15 minutes. Till the chanting lasts, Lalit will protect all of you. The responsibility of tying you up is assigned to one of you. When the binds are secured, Lalit will give a signal with a stick. Place a tumbler full of water nearby, just as the colour of the water changes, I will come back.”*

The diary also mentions

“"everyone will tie their own hands and when the kriya (ritual) is done then everyone will help each other untie their hands"”*

CCTV footage showed family members going out and buying the stools and wires that would be used in the ritual, the youngest of them (Shivam) being among them, this of course implies that the family were once again, simply following Lalit and the voices in his head out of a sense of devotion and trust.

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The Bodies

Ten of the eleven bodies in the house were found strung up in the courtyard, 5 stools stood under their feet, presumed to be shared by each of the family members, their faces covered in a cloth cut from a single bedsheet. Signs of struggle had been found on multiple family members. Evident by the bruises on their wrists as they struggled with the wires that binded them as they hung and choked, the bruises on their shins as they seemed to kick against the floor and stools, and Bhuvnesh(52) freed his hands and died trying to untie the noose, his hands still grasping the cloth even in death. Narayani Devi (80) was found on the floor, dead. It appeared her noose was tied to a doorknob nearby. The only surviving member would be Tommy, the family pet who was chained to the terrace. He would die only weeks later from heart failure in an animal shelter.

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Suicide, Murder, or Accident

Now, knowing what we know, it's still difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of their deaths. From what I can gauge there are only 3 possibilities, and I'll be laying out each of them here.

Suicide

This seems to be the most popular theory from people who have heard the case or seen the video. I also think it's the most unlikely, I think people believe it was a mass suicide simply because, well, what's going to be your first thought when you see 11 people hanging from nooses? I find this hard to believe though. The clear signs of struggles seem to eliminate this possibility, but even moreso, the fact that Privkaya was set to marry soon also makes it seem less likely she'd be willing to abandon her husband. The dog being tied to the ceiling. Most importantly of course, was the diary detailing what was to happen after the ritual was concluded, meaning that it was not meant to end in everybody's death.

Murder

I think it's possible that as the ritual happened, Lalit may have purposefully failed to untie the family as they hung there knowing that they would die. Perhaps he deceived them into normalizing the ritual by having them perform it a few times, having them go over it in the diaries, to set up a sort of mass suicide unbeknownst to them. One key piece of evidence is the body of Narayani Devi, who was of course found dead on the floor. Perhaps she was strangled as she refused to participate in the ritual. Lalit was seemingly the last person to be bound, as he was the one responsible for prompting the chants with a stick as well as the one who was to “protect” them during the ritual. It certainly seems possible that he could have used this role in the ritual to murder the family, to fulfil some ritualistic purpose he was keeping secret.

Accident

Tying your neck to a noose, supported by flimsy stools that you were sharing with other people. It's not hard to imagine that something could go wrong. It's possible that as Lalit participated in the ritual, his foot fell off the stool and he broke his neck. As a subsequent result, he was unable to help the other family members and they soon succumbed to choking. Perhaps a stool fell over and one of them panicked, kicking over all the other stools. Narayni Devi, may have been tied to the doorknob, and succumbed to exhaustion and died. She may have fell to the floor after the noose loosened on it's own or snapped. It makes sense she was strung up separate from the family, as her old age and arthritis would have made it difficult to join them.

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Conclusion

The deaths represent a horrific case of mass psychosis. If you're more of the spiritual type, perhaps you may think demons or evil spirits tricked the poor family into dying horrific deaths. The more I read some of the stories on this site, the more I start to believe such things are possible. I think the possibility of an accident or murder is the most likely, but I'm willing to give the slight edge to the fact it was an accident seeing as how dangerous the ritual was, and how easily an accident could have occurred.

I apologize for any inconsistencies, a lot of the news stories are painfully undetailed, and the documentary is a bit sensationalist and is not as thorough in regards to the cold hard facts as I wish they were. Any mistakes I made could also be the result of basic human error.

May the Chundawat family rest in peace.