A note written on June 26 says 'have to meet God on June 30'.

Special Correspondent

The bodies of 11 members of a Delhi family, ten of them hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling inside one room, were found at their residence in Burari's Sant Nagar area on Sunday morning. The body of a 77-year-old woman was lying on the floor in another room of the house. Two of the deceased were children both aged around 15.

The bodies of the women and children were found hanging with their hands tied, eyes blindfolded and mouths taped. The eyes on the male bodies were covered with cloth. Police are not ruling out the possibility of poisoning before hanging some of the bodies.

The deceased were identified as Narayan Devi (77), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45), her daughter-in-laws Savita (48) and Teena (42), her daughter Pratibha (57), her grandchildren Priyanka (33), Nitu (25), Monu (23), Dhruv (15) and Shivam (15). The family owns a pet dog that was found tied on the terrace.

The post-mortem report of six of the 11 members revealed that the cause of death was ligature hanging. The report also showed that there were no signs of struggle. The family had also donated their eyes.

The handwritten notes found at Delhi's Burari house where 11 of a family were found dead on Sunday have revealed a set of instructions on how to carry the act in order to "attain salvation".

Police suspect that spiritual belief may have pushed the deceased to take their own lives.

One of the notes mentions that the family should "carry the act only on a Thursday or a Sunday" and use "dim light".

It's still unclear if the notes were written by a family member or someone from outside. Cops are looking into the possibility of a godman having spurred the family to take the extreme step.

Special Correspondent

The last one reads: "Stool ka upyog karne se, haath, aankh aur muu bandhne se hi moksh ki prapti hogi (Using a stool, and keeping the hands, eyes and mouth tied up will help attain salvation)."

Around 6.30 am on Sunday, the milk supplier left a crate outside the shop as it was closed, but the main door of the house was open. Gurucharan, a neighbour, noticed the crate lying unattended.

Finding the door open, he went upstairs and found that 10 of the family members were hanging from an iron grill meant for ventilation.

"I informed the neighbours. In the meantime, I searched for Narayan Aunty, who was found dead in the adjacent room. At 7.30 am, a call to the police control room was made and the crime team reached the spot," Gurucharan said.

History reveals In 1978, hundreds paid for their obedience to an American cult leader, Jim Jones, with their lives. This happened in Jonestown, a settlement in Guyana a small, coastal nation sandwiched between Venezuela and Suriname on South America's northern coast.

Jones, the founder of the 'Peoples Temple', told his cultists to drink a poisoned beverage. The FBI, a US investigating agency, says "a few apparently objected".

But sadly, sanity didn't win the day. 900 people died, and the FBI says more than a fifth of them were children. Jim Jones himself died of a gunshot to the head.

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