All language subtitles for House.of_.Secrets.The_.Burari.Deaths.S01E01

Death is predestined.

How and when, no one knows.

Would it be a fall from the mountain?

Would it be in your sleep,
or death from drowning?

Be it in any form,
death is certain for all.

It's God's will.

Even I don't know
how I will meet my death.

You see, eventually,
everything fades away.

I moved here in 1997
after my retirement from the railways.

Back then, the population was sparse.

Now the place is overpopulated.

I met the family when I moved here.

In 1997, we constructed
our houses together.

As neighbours, we got along very well.

What remains are the ruins.

Usually, their shop would open
between 5:00-5:30 a.m.

That's when the milkman
delivered the milk.

That day, their shop did not open.

Around 7:00 a.m., I went to my balcony

and saw someone
inquiring about buying milk.

So I wondered why
they were late in opening the shop.

None of them picked up the phone,
it kept ringing.

This was rather unusual.

So I went downstairs to check.

I knocked on the door only to realize
that it was not locked from the inside.

I pushed the door and it opened.

At that moment, I panicked.

I climbed up the stairs…

My mother is old and is a light sleeper.

She had stepped out for a morning walk.

She came back from the street screaming.

I was still sleepy
after working all night.

In that state, I rushed to their house.

I stood there for two minutes
wondering whether it was real.

I asked my son to quickly get my phone
and called the police control room.

At around 7:35 a.m., I got a call
from the Burari station informing me

that a suicide had taken place in my beat.

You see, I grew up
in the same area, Sant Nagar.

Before becoming a police officer,
I was their neighbour first.

My seniors asked me
to go and check the scene.

Just as I entered the lane,

I saw men and women

running down the stairs,
crying hysterically.

I reached upstairs and saw…

nine people hanging
from an iron grill on the ceiling.

A tenth lady was hanging right opposite.

I found their mother in the other room
lying on the floor near the bed.

I could hear their dog,
tied on the roof, barking continuously.

The formation in which they were hanging
reminded me of a banyan tree,

like branches of the tree
suspended downwards.

They too were suspended,
in the same manner, by colorful scarves.

POLICE STATION, BURARI

Hello. Yes?

I am at the station.

There is a documentary being made
on my case. I'm busy with the shoot.

All right.

This is something
that's etched in my mind,

and till I die,
it is going to remain there.

Early morning I was in the police station.

I was out patrolling
till 5:00 a.m. that morning.

I had told the duty officer
that I was tired and needed some rest.

He woke me up in a panic,
"Sir, this is very important."

I woke up.

Rajeev was on the phone
and he was beside himself.

"They're all hanging," he said.

I asked, "How many?"
He said, "I couldn't count."

How can one count "one, two, three,
four, five, six…" in that state of mind?

He said, "They're hanging in a line."

I asked him to seal the place.
"Don't allow anybody.."

"You stay there, I am coming."

Everybody should rush to the spot.

I was still putting on my belt
as I jumped into my car.

I still remember entering
the scene of the crime.

Everybody is hanging.

Blindfolded. Hands bound.

From 12 to 13-year-olds
to 60 to 80-year-olds.

I don't think I have ever seen
such a scene, even in a movie.

I don't think anybody has seen
this kind of crime scene ever in his life.

What's important is there was a family,

not an atypical family, mind you,

quite a typical family.

There were three generations
living under one roof.

The grandparents, the parents,
and the children.

And in a joint family, you see,
everyone's roles are kind of plotted,

and everybody falls in line.

All of them educated.

All of them high-functioning
social members.

People in the prime of their lives.

This was truly extraordinary.

The first question that comes
to a person's mind would be why?

Why did this incident happen?
Everybody wants to know why.

And the answer is not simple,
it's quite complex.

We certainly don't know
what's happening with our neighbours.

And we absolutely do not know
what's happening in our neighbourhood.

But every now and then
something comes along

that shakes the most hardened of us.

You know, it makes you go, "Oh, my God!"

If anyone wanted
to commit this kind of mass-killing,

killing 11 people, would require at least…

If we think that two people
were controlling one victim,

still we require 20, 30 people over here

The crime scene doesn't indicate
any disturbance of that sort.

Their ornaments were still on them.
So there is no indication of burglary.

And if indeed it was suicide,
why are they blindfolded and tied up?

Exactly, what is it?

Could someone have poisoned them
and then hung them?

Once murdered, then they could've
been hung to make it look like a suicide.

It was morning time.

Fifty to sixty people had
already gathered to buy milk.

-Their regular customers.
-Their regular customers.

They spread the news,
and it flared up in no time.

The Chief Minister of Delhi,
Shri Arvind Kejriwal is here

to visit the crime scene
and take stock of the situation.

What caused these 11 deaths?
Is this murder or suicide?

Securing the crime scene
became our top priority.

Our entire staff was on the road
controlling the crowds.

We placed barricades.

As we secured the lanes,
people took to the roofs.

They were trying
to get a view from the rooftop.

There was a lot of curiosity
around what had happened.

People were crowding windows and terraces,
hoping to get a view.

Just then, I got a call from my source.

He informed me that,

"11 people have been
found dead inside a house."

"They've been murdered!"

Finding 11 bodies together
in a city like Delhi was a big deal.

Why has this happened?
How? Who did it? And why?

There is a saying that crime reporters
are devoid of emotions,

just like police officers

who deal with dead bodies
and accidents every day.

They become emotionally dead.

I guess it is partly true for us.

But on that day, I was disturbed hearing

that a whole family was found dead.

Because I have never
come across such a case

ever since I started covering crime.

So, my first instinct was
that this could be fake news.

I was desperately trying
to get more information on the case,

but no one was answering my calls
because it was such a big case.

Meanwhile, I spoke
to my local police source.

They confirmed the story to be true.

I was the first one to break
the news in the Burari case.

I was the first one
to present this case to the world.

My tweet got rapidly retweeted.
Soon the news spread like wildfire.

Everybody rushed to Burari
to cover the story.

11 bodies were found hanging
from a mesh in a residence in Burari.

Seven women and four men…

By 8:30 a.m., every media channel
was at the scene.

Delhi Police has never dealt
with a case like this before,

where 11 dead people
are found in the same house.

It's definitely a race.

There's too much pressure
to be the first to break the news.

We were stuck in the crowd
since the police had blocked the access.

Based on the hearsay, we were
trying to put the pieces together.

Behind me, you can see
the senior police officials

who are still here at the spot.

Right now, we are at the top
and let me show you the top angle view.

Just then, we got a video

and it was a video of the crime scene
shot in the morning.

The police reached the scene
by 7:35, 7:40 a.m.

The video was already shot
and uploaded by then.

Someone from the crowd had shot it
and it had gone viral.

I received this video
on one of my WhatsApp groups.

It was spine-chilling.

It was such a horrifying video.

This entire video
was almost two minutes long.

No police is visible in that at all.

Someone from the crowd shot it
and made it viral.

Instructions were given that nobody should

air it on their channel

because it's brutal and disturbing.

After watching that video
we were all shaken up.

We couldn't believe this could happen.
It was so disturbing.

After watching that video
we needed no further confirmation.

The video verified the news for us.

In a horrifying incident,

dead bodies of 11 members
of the same family,

seven women and four men,

were found in a house
in north Delhi's Burari area…

11 members of a family were found dead…

Big news now coming in from Burari, Delhi…

11 bodies found…

…the phone call came in
to the Delhi police control room…

11 people dead…

It's an exclusive…

When this video and the visuals got out,

the gravity of the news spiralled.

On watching the video,
it looked like they had been murdered.

How could 11 people do this to themselves?

The public could not believe it
and people kept pouring in.

We must act responsibly in such cases.

While reporting, you have to be very sure.

Even a small error could cascade
into a massive law and order situation.

In these situations,
people tend to get agitated

and soon it turns destructive.

One person starts some bullshit
and it soon gets out of hand.

We need to calm the crowd,
make sure there are no riots.

Anti-social elements
are on the lookout for exposure.

In a short while,
the police will make a statement.

Senior officers reached the crime scene
within an hour.

We are not ruling out
any possibility for now.

We are investigating
from all possible angles. Thank you.

At this point in time, what is happening
is that evidence is being gathered

and the forensic team
has also arrived here

in order to gather the evidence.

By 9:30, FSL were there.
The whole team was there.

Biology, Physics, Chemistry.

FSL Photography.
Everybody, we wanted there.

All of the experts.

Each of them had the same reaction,
"What is this?"

"What is this?"

As we went from the ground floor
to the first floor,

we saw the bodies.

The first reaction was, "Oh, my God!"

We could not believe it.

It was very surprising and very cruel.

Because there were elders
and children there.

It was difficult to make sense of it.

Three generations of a family, hanging.

Our photography team started to document

each and everything.

We did not want to miss a single detail.

We marked the bodies.

One, two, three, four, in serial number.

Marking the bodies
was a really difficult task.

The hanging bodies
would move as we worked.

We had to negotiate our way
to mark the bodies.

This didn't feel
like a typical crime scene.

Something was off.

The nine people hanging together
looked like suicide, but still,

why the double knots? Why the blindfolds?

It's a mystery.

Along with the sarees,
the wires were also used as nooses.

Some had their hands tied, some didn't.

The woman who was hanging at a distance,

her legs were touching the ground.

The mother, 80 years old,
dead in another room.

Why is she in that position?

Again, the same queries.
Is it suicide, or is it murder?

The motive was yet to be known.
Why and how did this happen?

Suicide note is not there.

Because of all these things,
we could not leave out anything.

And we can't just rule it as suicide.

We needed every kind of clue,
whatever we could get.

We noticed a CCTV camera
just across the lane.

Immediately a team was deputed
to check the footage

right from the beginning.

From the previous evening

right up until 7:00-8:00 a.m.
the next morning,

scan through every moment,
don't skip anything.

To rule out the possibility
of an outsider's entry.

To ensure that there was
no outsider involved.

Was it a case of mass murder
or mass suicide?

This is a question that has grappled

not just the people
from these by-lanes of Burari

but perhaps the entire nation.

This is their house.

Right next door to us.
We often talked to them from here.

We live right next door.
We were close to them.

They were very harmonious people.

They were a close-knit family
of 11 members.

They were great neighbours.

I have a son who often
visited their shop downstairs,

they were all extremely fond of him.

He often called out to them
from the terrace.

My son misses them a lot.

As neighbours, we were very
fond of each other.

Actually, they had come from Tohana.

They used to do farming there.

Earlier, they had one shop
and then later opened another one.

They opened a general store.

The younger one, Lalit,
had a plywood business.

They were doing well.

I worked for eight years
at the plywood store with Lalit.

I never saw the family
have even the smallest argument ever.

At home and outside,
no one even raised their voice ever.

They were religious people
who prayed at the temple twice a day.

They were generous.

If I ever forgot to bring lunch,
they would feed me.

They treated me like family.

When we moved here, we became a family.

We were together in sorrow and joy.

We used to attend
social functions together.

Our own families
got left behind in villages.

In the city, our neighbours
become our family.

My elder son was a bit older
than their sons.

They formed a deep friendship.

They would play outside
till 11:00 at night.

They hung out together.

They always greeted me with respect.
Always touched my feet.

I always wished
that my children were like them.

All three kids that studied with us
were intelligent.

I personally coached Neetu.

She was bold and always spoke her mind.

She was intelligent,
good with her studies.

They were brave girls
and intelligent ones.

Strong personalities. Without fear.

Ever since I knew them,
they were called the Bhatia family.

Narayani Devi… Her maiden name was Bhatia.

Narayani Aunty was friendly
and warm to all.

If you visited their house,
she'd host you with love and care.

The daughters-in-law, Savita, Tina,
both of them were very sweet.

Not just these two, the whole family
would go to any length to help.

They were there for us all the time.

We would even leave our children
in their care when we left town.

I was at the Chandni Chowk Gurudwara,
when she called me.

She said, "Come fast."

"There has been a tragedy
in Bhupi's house."

My initial feeling was that

it must be a burglary
since Priyanka was about to get married.

How could three generations
kill themselves together?

And to murder 11 people is inconceivable.

Since the whole family had perished,

all 11 of them,

and there were no eyewitnesses,

nobody to tell us what had happened.

Their dog was the sole surviving member
of that family.

I saw this breaking news on TV.

A family of 11 was found dead
due to hanging.

It struck me that there was a dog
constantly being shown

and no one seemed to care.

They were talking about everything
but the dog.

All the news channels,
they were all showing the dog.

It struck me that
I have to rescue that baby.

He's obviously in a lot of pain and trauma
and troubled by the blazing sun.

He was tied to the same grill
where the family was found hanging.

He had obviously been a silent witness
to the whole act, unable to stop them.

Because he's voiceless.

When we reached,
the police escorted us upstairs.

Tommy was very aggressive.

We couldn't control him at all.

So then we had to bring a dog catcher.

Tommy was the twelfth member
of that family.

If Tommy wasn't tied upstairs,

perhaps the family
could've been alive now.

Over here.

Let me show you.

A family member has arrived on the scene.

-As you can see--
-Move aside.

Look…

Don't create a spectacle.

Let them through.

As you can see, a family member is here.

They are all gone!

Do not make a scene!

They were God-like people.
Don't speculate.

Easy.

They were great people!

The first one to arrive
was the sister from Panipat. Sujata.

We had to ensure
that she didn't faint due to the shock.

First, we told her everything.
Then we consoled her.

We told her, "Life and death
is in God's hands."

"Something bad has taken place."

"Neither you nor I
can change what has happened."

We heard that they were simple
and religious people.

Yes. The neighbours can tell you.

They were all great people.
Ever so great people.

Their family is gripped with sorrow.

In no condition to talk.

And one can only hope,

that a thorough investigation
into this matter

will finally bring answers
to the family which has seen it all.

My elder brother informed us

that something terrible
had happened to our family in Delhi.

I asked him, "What has happened?"

He said that the entire family
was wiped out.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

As I switched on the TV,
I saw the shocking news.

I was devastated.

We could not believe it.

But then we saw coverage
of the house and the location.

It got confirmed that this was our family.

It is our sister's family.

This is how we came to know.

She was always busy at work,
such was her nature.

For her, family came above all.
She kept the family together.

She was unique
in her selfless love for the family.

She never demanded anything from anyone.

We went to Rawatbhata

and after meeting Bhuvnesh,
we fixed the marriage.

After just three months
of being engaged they got married

They were leading
an honest and simple life.

No signs of struggle or conflict.

Why did it all happen, and how?
We know nothing.

We are clueless.

The men left that evening.
We ladies were left behind.

There is immense pain

and a deep emptiness in our hearts.

I doubt this will ever be filled.

Our family has lost their loving sister.

Our house has lost a daughter.

Our family has lost
such a nice son-in-law.

We lost our loving nieces and nephew.

Even future generations will never
be able to fill this void they have left.

I spoke to Tina that day itself.

She had called me
on the night of the incident.

I spoke to Lalit too.

We spoke for five minutes.

"Everything is fine with us.
How are things? Everything is good."

"We will talk in the morning."

After a girl is married, her brother,
her parents, her whole family,

we all worry about
how she is coping in her new house.

Hoping that she is happy.

But our family or me,

never had reason to worry about Tina.

Rarely do you get to see
such a perfectly paired couple.

They honoured each other's wishes always.

Their rapport was too good to be true.

This is Lalit and Tina.

Wedding poses.

"Made for each other."

It was painful
to see my mother deal with it.

There is good and evil in the world.
Both in equal measure.

I don't know what is the truth
and what are the lies?

The big story in the national capital…

The survivors of the Burari family
have spoken out, they say,

"How could a family go from throwing

a big bash for their daughter
to mass suicide in 14 days?"

This is a case of suicide.

The second daughter, Sujata,
refuses such claims

and she says they were murdered.

Lies are being peddled
against my family.

They are all lies.
It is a cooked-up story.

Sujata, the sister from Panipat
had already arrived,

and the situation
was growing from bad to worse.

They objected to our portrayal
of this incident as a mass suicide.

-What do you think happened?
-Someone has killed them all.

The police are trying
to suppress the truth.

They are definitely hiding something
to save themselves.

None of the relatives
were willing to accept

that this was a mass suicide.

The eldest son, Dinesh,
was living in Rajasthan at the time.

This is what he said.

My family was so bold
that I do not buy this theory.

The kids and my brothers were so bold.

I can't believe they would
do something like this.

They were not weak or helpless.

They had no idea
about the reality of the situation,

even they couldn't tell us
what had happened.

They were adamant that it was a murder
and we were misreporting it.

This news spread across the country
and we were accused of reporting lies.

"You are reporting what the police want."

We want justice!

Justice for the dead family!

We demand justice for the dead family!

-Hail Karni Sena!
-Hail Sena!

By then, some people started sloganeering.

They were shouting murder,
accusing the police.

Some members belonging to their community,
there's no point in naming them,

they have a social organization.

They arrived at the crime scene.

This is a lie.

They are trying to
wash their hands of their responsibility.

The police aren't accountable
even to the Delhi Government,

let alone to this poor family.

I declare that the family is not alone.
Karni Sena is with them.

Karni Sena reached the crime scene

and claimed that this family,

some of the deceased were their relatives.

Basically, they were
from Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.

They threatened to shake up
not just the city,

but the whole country
in their fight for justice.

We will do whatever it takes
to get justice for our family in Delhi.

What usually happens
in a conflicted case like this is,

the first person
we tend to blame is the police.

The crowds were getting out of hand.

We were prepared in case things got worse.

This is Delhi. We had to
get this under control.

They're mistaken if they think
they can bully the police.

The police are clearly trying
to dismiss the case.

We strongly demand a federal-CBI probe.
A case of murder must be registered.

"What's your demand," we asked.

We registered this as a murder case.

We don't think it is,
but still, we are doing it.

We are investigating.
We'll take care of every aspect.

You can see the FIR.

In that, we have explained
everything in detail.

Case registration isn't the end
of the investigation.

It is just the beginning
of the investigation.

The latest on the multiple deaths
in Delhi's Burari area…

A murder case has been registered.

This, a day after 11 persons of one family

were found mysteriously dead
in their home in Delhi.

Sometimes people presume
that the local police

will just want to hush up the case.

When the Crime Branch is there,
they're perceived to be efficient,

the case will be in good hands

and they will conduct
a thorough investigation.

Crime Branch specializes
in handling cases of sensitive nature.

In any crime, there's something
called a mens rea.

There has to be knowledge.
There has to be intention.

And there has to be
a motive behind a crime.

Why should they die?
And who should kill them? And for what?

From the Crime Branch side,
I was the first person to reach.

See, my reaction was not shock.
It was curiosity

because I've handled cases
of multiple murders before.

So my first instinct was,

this could be a hanging
after the crime has been committed.

I kept calling my team.

I specifically called for Satish.

He is not one of the best.
He is my best investigating officer.

Cop portrayals in films
are sometimes positive

and sometimes negative.

We feel happy
when the portrayal is positive.

We put our heart and soul
into catching the culprit.

And when we solve the case, we are happy.

The moment I entered that house in Burari,

the sight I saw when I climbed up
those stairs to the first floor,

I can never forget that sight.

I felt devastated.
I felt sick in my stomach.

We investigated the case
from all possible angles.

The plan was to rule out things
one by one.

We went around searching the house
very, very systematically.

There was nothing disturbed.
There was no forced entry.

There was milk in the refrigerator

and there were some traces
of food being taken.

If this was a homicide,
there would be some kind of struggle.

And it was almost
as if they were hanging in peace.

Between the second and the first floor,
this mesh was there.

It was covered.

I wondered if it could be moved?
It was very light.

It was made of fiberglass and wood.

And then I could see that the ligatures
were equidistant from each other.

It is like a Rubik's Cube, you know.

I thought this is too difficult to stage.

Further angles were revealed
in our investigation,

which we had to rule out.

Bhuvnesh, "Bhupi," tried to free himself.

One of his hands was free,
showing clear signs of struggle.

The kids couldn't struggle
as their feet were tightly bound.

Their hands were tied behind.

They used telephone wires
to ruthlessly bind them.

Even if they tried to free themselves,
they couldn't.

They had tape over their mouths and eyes.

Cotton stuffed in their ears.

Their mother…

she was found
lying by the side of her bed.

Her body was half-turned.

And there was a scarf around her neck,
like everyone else.

And there was a belt.

On one side of her neck,
there were marks.

Spotted by both FSL and us.

They were of the same size as the belt,
but only on one side.

In hanging cases,
usually the marks go upwards like a V.

It was suspicious, to say the least.

The bodies were carefully
removed and numbered.

They were properly packed
before we shifted them to the mortuary.

And all this was done
despite the chaos outside.

Five thousand people around.
So many cameras were lurking.

We arranged for 11 ambulances.

Two men would carry the body,

one sat with the driver
to keep the route clear.

Two ambulances would reverse in the lane

because there wasn't enough space
to turn around.

They were parked
exactly in front of the stairs.

As the bodies were being lowered,

we made sure that each body
had the ligature intact.

And we packed them all in zip lock bags.

It was very painful to watch.
We couldn't help but get emotional.

How could something like this happen?

How could children hang like that?

It was the same story then,
and it remains the same today.

No one else dared to touch the bodies.

My colleagues and I

brought all the 11 bodies down,
one by one.

It was a mammoth task.

One ambulance would leave
and make way for the next one.

Covered from all sides.

In groups of two, we did this.

It took us two hours
to just shift the bodies.

We had to do this carefully
and bring them down one by one.

It was being telecast live.

The movement of the convoy
was closely followed.

In the beginning, those who
were exiting the crime scene

were sure that this was a murder.

A lot of police officers
who had been inside felt the same way.

The reason being

that everyone had their hands tied,

their mouths were gagged,
tied with telephone cables.

These were the big clues
pointing at murder.

How could 11 people do this to themselves?

Why would they do such a thing?

It was evident that
something strange had transpired.

We found evidence of a ritual
performed the night before.

There was something odd
in that crime scene.

As the investigation progressed,
some new revelations came to light.

The CCTV footage was a turning point.

That camera covered the exterior
of the crime scene house.

So we saw it all together.

Frame by frame,
so that we don't miss a thing.

On 28th June, 2018,

Tina, wife of Lalit,

and her son purchased four stools.

On the night of 30th June
when the main event took place,

at 9:40 p.m.,

Tina, wife of Lalit,

can be seen with another girl
carrying newly purchased stools.

At 10:29 p.m.

Lalit's son opens the plywood shop,

and brings a small bundle of wires.
He takes it upstairs.

We also found that the scarves
and sarees used for hanging

were purchased from the market.

The footage from that night

showed the movement
of only family members.

Nobody else entered the house after that.

That assured us that
no outsider was involved.

Now the question was,

"Is it an inside job?"