NEW DELHI: The mass hangings by 11 members of the
Bhatia family
in north Delhi's Sant Nagar was the culmination a "badh tapasya" ritual undertaken to free the "spirits" of the deceased family patriarch and those of four others "trapped" in the house, dairy entries made by his son, Lalit Bhatia, indicate.
Cops said Lalit wrote in the diary that he had received "instructions from his father" to hold the "badh" ritual (worship of a banyan tree for seven days) to relieve the spirits of the patriarch, Sajjan Singh, Heera, Dayanand and Ganga Devi from the house. He was confident that the family would emerge unscathed, source said quoting diary entries.
Police are trying to find out who these four people named in the diary were. TOI had first reported about the "badh tapasya" on Monday.
"Char aatmayein mere saath bhatak rahin hain..," the entry reads. In the note written on July 9, 2015, Lalit, claiming to be possessed by his father, wrote that he was thankful that despite having differences, the family remained under one roof. "There are five souls who are with me. If you manage to change your views, then they too would be relieved. You thought going to
Haridwar
and conducting a funeral will relieve me. I am waiting for this ritual (badh tapasya) to be completed," said the note.
In a recent note, Lalit wrote that the badh tapasya was progressing well. "Ishwar is baat se khush hain ki 11 bande ek bhavna veh ek line main khade hai. Ye badh tapasya badi badi samasyaon ka hal hai (God is pleased that 11 family members were standing as one. 'Badh tapasya' is the solution to major problems)," it says.
In another note, Lalit claims that he wanted to replicate the same ritual at the house of his in-laws who were going through a financial crisis. As per the notes, Lalit and the rest of the family were confident of surviving the ritual they undertook on Saturday night and had apparently planned to repeat it with Teena's family.