Delhi Burari deaths: Female occult practitioner detained; police to conduct psychological autopsy of family members

Days after the bodies of 11 members of a family were found in Delhi’s Burari area on 1 July, Delhi Police has detained a female occult practitioner in connection with the case, according to media reports. The woman, who reportedly goes by the name Geeta maa, was questioned by the police on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_4645871” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Police personnel guard near the house, where 11 members of a family were found dead. PTI[/caption] The woman is the daughter of the contractor who built the house where the family lived, according to NDTV. In a sting video, News18 reported, the woman can be seen saying that the family came to know about her practices and asked her to visit their house on 7 July. Police sources told NDTV they have not found any links between Geeta maa and the family but are investigating to see if the family was influenced into taking their lives. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police said it will conduct a psychological autopsy of the 11 family members. A psychological autopsy attempts to explain why a person has taken his/her life by analysing medical records, interviewing friends and family and conducting research into the person’s state of mind prior to death, say experts. By going through the notes recovered from the spot, an expert will try and gain an insight into the psyche of the deceased, a police officer told PTI. Police are still awaiting the final postmortem report and the forensic report. They will also be sending the viscera of the bodies for forensic examination to ascertain whether the members were poisoned. The initial autopsy report had said that all 11 members had died of hanging and there were no signs of struggle or scuffle. Ten of the 11 members of the deceased family were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling, 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. With inputs from PTI