New Delhi:
In what seems to be reminiscent of the Burari-like incident, the discovery of four corpses of a family in a room sent shockwaves across Madhya Pradesh’s Mandideep town in Raisen district on Tuesday. The dead included a woman, 12-day-old newborn, her 40-year-old mother and 12-year-old brother. The woman’s husband, found in a near-unconscious state, was hospitalised. The police said it is unclear how they died. Sanju Bhuria, the only survivor, was taken to hospital where doctors said he is stable. He works at a factory in Mandideep, 22 km from state capital Bhopal. The police said that though the cause of the death wasn’t immediately clear, suffocation due to inhalation of carbon monoxide poisoning could be the reason. The police also found a coal heater in the house.
The deceased were identified as Poornima Bhuria (20), Deeplata Dheemar (40), Akash Dheemar (11) and Poornima’s 12-day-old daughter. Poornima’s husband Shannu Bhuria (25) was found in an unconscious state. Bhuria's mother-in-law and brother-in-law had come from Maharashtra to help his wife take care of the newborn.
The neighbours said they last saw the family on Monday evening. When they were not seen the entire day on Tuesday, the neighbours said they decided to check on them. “A resident of Himanshu Colony, Nitin Chauhan informed the police that his neighbour Shannu, who belonged to Chhattisgarh, and his family members were not responding to their calls and they had not come out of their house since Monday evening,” superintendent of police Monika Shukla said.
The house was locked from inside and the family was using an angeethi (brazier), the police said, adding they may have suffocated to death but have not ruled out poisoning or homicide. They said there was some froth in the mouth of the bodies and possibly injury marks on the hands of the woman. The post-mortem examination report will give a clearer picture, they added.
“When police entered the house of Shannu by breaking the door, four people were found dead while Shannu was unconscious. Shannu was admitted to a hospital where he said he was unaware of how his family died,” said Shukla.
On July 1 of last year, a family of 11 members was found dead at their home in the national capital's Burari area. Ten of the 11 members of a family, including minor children were found hanging from iron mesh of the ceiling on July 1 sending chills down the spine. The eldest in the family, 77-year-old Narayan Devi was found dead on the floor in the adjacent room. An investigation into the deaths later revealed that this was a case of 'shared psychosis'. The deceased were trying to imitate a ritual to contact their late patriarch which ultimately led to their deaths, revealed officials familiar with the matter.
