Eleven members of the Chundawat family of the Burari neighborhood of Delhi died in a group suicide on July 1, 2018. The incident was later formally ruled by police to be motivated by a shared psychotic disorder (folie à deux), but the investigation uncovered a complex, cultlike belief system rooted in a spiritual delusion that was meticulously documented over more than a decade.
The seeds of the deaths were sown in 2007 following the death of the family patriarch, Bhopal Singh. His younger son, 45-year-old Lalit Chundawat, who had previously lost his ability to speak after an accident, began exhibiting profound changes. Lalit’s voice reportedly returned after his father’s death, an event the family regarded as a miracle. Lalit then asserted that he was possessed by his father’s spirit, which was communicating instructions to him for the family’s betterment and prosperity. This spiritual claim effectively positioned Lalit as the family’s new, divinely appointed leader, replacing his deceased father.
Starting in September 2007, Lalit, with the physical assistance of his niece Priyanka and daughter Nitu, began maintaining a series of 11 diaries. These diaries, filled over 11 years, were believed by the family to contain the direct, written instructions of Bhopal Singh’s spirit. The entries dictated every aspect of the family’s life, from mundane daily routines and eating habits to financial decisions. This collective adherence to Lalit’s asserted spiritual directives created a tightly controlled and isolated system of belief. The family underwent significant lifestyle changes, including stopping non-vegetarian food consumption and increasing religious pujas (kirtans), which Lalit often led, sitting in his father’s former place.
The 11 bodies were discovered on the morning of July 1, 2018. Ten members — including two teenage boys, two men, and six women — were found hanging from a mesh in the ceiling of the hallway. The 80-year-old matriarch, Narayani Devi, was found strangled in an adjacent room, an arrangement consistent with a diary entry that noted the elderly woman should lie down if she could not stand.
The arrangement of the bodies was highly ritualistic, meticulously matching the instructions found in the diaries. The ten hanging victims were found tightly grouped together, blindfolded, with their mouths taped and ears plugged with cotton, and their hands and feet often tied. Their faces were covered with cloth pieces cut from a single bedsheet, and they had apparently been hanged in batches of three. Lalit is believed to have been the instigator and mastermind, likely the one responsible for tying the others’ hands and feet.
The diaries detailed the “final act,” or “badh tapasya” (banyan tree worship), a peculiar ritual the family believed would lead to salvation. The ritual required participants to hang themselves, mimicking the hanging roots of a banyan tree, while waiting for a divine, supernatural intervention. Crucially, the diary entries stated that upon completion of the ritual, the family would be rescued — an indication that they did not expect to die. One entry read: “everyone will tie their own hands and when the kriya (ritual) is done then everyone will help each other untie their hands,” confirming the belief in their survival.
Further evidence suggesting premeditation and ritualistic devotion included the discovery of 11 pipes protruding from a wall of their house and 11 iron rods in the main door, a deliberate pattern mirroring the number of family members who died. Post-mortem reports found no signs of struggle, suggesting the victims submitted willingly to the ritualistic hanging in accordance with the collective delusion.
The police investigation concluded that the deaths were a mass suicide driven by a shared psychotic disorder (folie à deux). This condition involves a delusional belief transmitted from one person (the “inducer,” likely Lalit) to others within a close group. Lalit’s delusion that he was channeling his deceased father’s spirit, coupled with the family’s extreme and unwavering trust, created a self-contained, cultlike system of belief and obedience over the 11-year period documented in the diaries. The family was motivated by the supernatural forces they believed were commanding them, convinced the ritual was a temporary act of faith that would result in salvation, not death.
Key Sources:
BBC News. (2018, July 19). Were occult practices behind India’s “house of mass hangings”?
Bhandari, H. (2018, July 16). Burari deaths: 11 bright people with one dark secret. The Hindu.
Hirwani, P. (2021, October 11). House of Secrets: How the deaths of 11 family members in India gripped the nation. The Independent.
Sagi, V. (2025, July 1). Burari deaths: 7 years later, the Chundawat family’s fate continues to evoke curiosity. Press Trust of India.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 