Occultist, aide questioned in Delhi family deaths
New Delhi, July 2 : Police on Monday said an occultist and his accomplice were detained for questioning in the mysterious mass deaths of 11 members of a Delhi family on Sunday.
Police said it recovered handwritten notes in the prayer area of their two-storey house in Pant Nagar in Burari, revealing a possible mystical connection to the deaths.
All but one of the bodies were found hanging from the ceiling. Most of them were blindfolded, gagged and their hands tied behind the back.
The oldest, Narayan Devi, 77, was found on the floor with signs of strangulation.
The notes hinting at mysticism were found in a diary in the prayer area. The texts of pages discussed spirituality, salvation, rituals and few dates of last month.
Articles used for offering in worship such as ghee and grains were also recovered from the house. The police suspect the role of an occultist or a godman behind the deaths.
"We are suspecting that the family may have died in a ritual which went wrong," a police officer said. The officer said the notes had instructions like: "Everyone should be blindfolded properly, nothing but zenith should be visible to the eyes.
"Worship the banyan tree for seven days at a stretch with devotion. If somebody comes home, then do it the next day. Choose Thursday and Sunday for this.
"If the elderly woman (Narayani Devi) can't stand, she can lie down in another room. "Use dim light for offering rituals. Offer the rituals between 12 and 1 a.m so that no one disturbs you.
"When you all were hanging during that period, god will miraculously appear and save you all at the moment."
The police officer said almost every instruction in the note seemed to have been followed by the family for "obtaining salvation". One important rule was that the family was to avoid using mobile phones, he said.
It took the police a few hours to recover their mobile phones from the house.
Vivek Kumar, a neighbour, said the family used to hold religious rituals and prayed regularly every two hours in morning and evening the last few weeks.
The deceased found hanging were Narayan Devi's two sons Bhavnesh Bhatia, 50, and Lalit Bhatia, 45, and two daughters Pratibha, 57, and Priyanka, 33, who got engaged last month.
Bhavnesh's wife Savita, 48, and their three children Nitu, 25, Monu, 23, and Dhruv, 15, were also found dead along with Lalit's wife Tina, 42, and their son Shivam, 15.
The Bhatias ran a grocery stone and a plywood outlet in the neighbourhood. Narayan Devi's eldest son Dinesh Bhatia lives in Rajasthan's Kota and another daughter Sujata lives in Panipat in Haryana.
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4th T20I: Brilliant Samson, magnificent Tilak score tons, India post mammoth 283/1 against SA
Johannesburg, Nov 15: Sanju Samson's precision met its match in Tilak Varma's muscular elegance as India toyed with South African bowling attack to post an imposing 283 for 1 in the fourth and final T20 International here on Friday.
This is by far India's highest T20I total overseas and highest by any country on South African soil.
Among the plethora of records that tumbled, the most special one will be two Indian batters scoring centuries in same T20I innings. Samson and Varma also posted the highest partnership for India in T20 Internationals --- 210 off just 93 balls for the second wicket.
Samson (109 not out off 56 balls), who smashed a superb century in the first game, once again pummelled the Proteas in company of Varma (120 not out off 47 balls) who has really come into his own with new found confidence and vigour at number three.
Samson now has three T20I tons in the last five knocks which also included two ducks while Varma has scored back-to-back T20I tons.
Samson completed his ton in 51 balls while Varma's (41 balls) took 10 balls less.
Abhishek Sharma (36 off 18 balls) should also get his share of credit for upping the ante in the Powerplay with four huge sixes.
On a good batting track with true bounce on offer, Indian batters hit a record 23 sixes as it was possible to hit through the line by just clearing one's front leg. Samson's nine maximums was one less than Varma's 10.
It only helped India that the opposition's best fast bowler Gerald Coetzee seemed to be carrying a niggle. The two medium pacers Andile Simelane (0/47 in 3 overs) and Lutho Sipamla (1/58 in 4 overs) seemed like lambs for slaughter. The Indians hit 10 sixes from Simelane and Sipamla.
By the time Coetzee was brought by skipper Aiden Markram for his second spell, the damage was done. Such was the nervousness of South African bowlers that they bowled 17 wides in trying to check the momentum.
They didn't vary the pace and pitched it on length as Samson and Varma were severe, either hitting them inside out over extra cover or at times straight down the ground.
Even Keshav Maharaj and Tristan Stubbs were not left unpunished as there was everything on the platter -- cuts, pulls, slog sweeps, reverse sweeps. There wasn't a single corner of the ground that didn't feel the power of strokes from the two Indians.
In fact one of Samson's shots hit a lady spectator's cheek. The TV cameras caught her sobbing in considerable pain.
Samson was more muscle as he would slightly shuffle towards leg-stump and loft the length balls while the silken Varma would make a mockery of spinners with uppish sweep shots, stand and deliver down the ground hits.
They slowed down a touch nearing their milestones but by then they had done enough to deflate the Proteas.
