Rotten Mango - #104: The Strangler Tree Deaths (Case of Bhatia Family Deaths)

Episode Date: October 10, 2021

The banyan tree is a terrifyingly beautiful sight.  It looks like it's draped in a shredded cloak… with its long roots suspended from the branches - hanging eerily straight towards the ground.  That’s the first thing the officer thought of when he walked into the family home. 11 people dead. 10 hanging.  Together, perfectly spaced out, 10 family members were suspended from the ceiling like the roots of a banyan tree. Suspended. 3 generations of a family had been wiped out. But why? Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to this week's mini-sode of Rotten Mango. I'm your host Stephanie Sue and today we're back at it again with a ad-free spooktober mini-sode. Now, do you guys know about the Banyan tree? Do you know what a Banyan tree is? I know a bonsai tree. Okay, not the same thing, okay? I feel like you'll probably see a lot of movies with them around this time of year. I mean, it's a very haunting looking tree. I don't know how else to put it. They're not parasitic. They're beautiful. I'm just gonna say like that, but Banyan trees are a type of tree called Strangler Figs. That's a very scary name, right? So the way that this tree works is not that it just goes into the ground and it

soes its beautiful roots like a willow tree. No, the seeds of a baanyan tree land on other trees. Then from there, the baanyan seed starts growing these vines. Now they depend on the host tree, the one that they just landed on for support, for nutrition, for life. But once it starts getting stronger, once the vines start getting stronger, they start growing their own roots all the way to the ground so that they can strangle the roots of the host tree. And then they take over the entire structure. They start like a horror movie. They start growing their branches. And now their branches. The minute that you see a bañan tree You're gonna be like I know exactly what tree you're talking about They grow straight down to the ground and it looks like they're wearing like a shredded cloak

They look like dementors. I'm not gonna lie now these trees are not parasites in the sense that they do create something for the world So their bark their leaves and even their roots are used for medicinal purposes. It's a beautiful tree. Don't get me wrong Don't be offended. But I think a lot of the beauty in this tree is the fact that it's terrifying. It's a terrifyingly beautiful tree. Now in India, it's often associated with the God of death and a lot of cultures that symbolizes fertility, life, resurrection.

Now you're thinking, why are you telling us about a tree, Stephanie? Let me tell you. A police officer gets called to the scene of the crime. Now, the call came in saying that there was a suicide in an apartment in Delhi, India. So he immediately rushes to the scene and once he gets there, there's people in and out of this apartment. I mean, they're interfering with his job. They shouldn't be here. They're literally running out of the apartment, screaming and hysterics sobbing. And he's upset, how am I going to deal with this?

How am I going to tell my boss that the scene was tainted? How am I going to make sure that these people don't cause hysteria in the neighborhood he's upset? They're interfering with this very important job, but when he gets to the apartment door and he opens it, he freezes. All of those thoughts just disappear. He couldn't move. All he could do was just stare. There was a metal grid hanging from the ceiling. And from there, like a horror film, only worse. There were nine people hanging from it. With nooses tied around their necks. Like they were all hanging on the rack? Yes. They were blindfolded with their hands bound. Some of their legs were bound together. they were gagged, some even had cotton stuck in

their ears, like earplugs. They were hanging like a rubik's cube, perfectly spaced from one another, equidistant to each other in the same room, and the gush of the air of the doors opening made the body sway as if they were moving. And you immediately knew what this scene looked like. Abonyan tree. The branches eerily hanging together straight to the ground.

As always, full source notes are available at rotinminglepodcast.com, but there's a really good Netflix documentary on this case called House of Secrets. It's a three episode, a docu-series. I was waiting for it to come out. I really wanted to know more about this case and I think it's really thorough.

There's a lot of commentary on how mental health is so stigmatized in India and maybe that's a huge factor in all of this, but genuinely, I mean it's just so puzzling. This is a bizarre case. 11 people, all in the same family, end up dead. 11 people, three generations of people. I don't really do a lot of trigger warnings because we do talk about a lot of dark stuff, but today's episode is going to be heavy on the topic of suicide or potential suicide. It's intense, there's a lot of people involved, so this might not be the episode for you, which then in that case, I will see you guys on Wednesday. I will also link some resources in the show notes,

but let's get into the story. So let's talk about the Bataya family. Now, this is a big family with three generations living under one roof. I feel like this is very common in Asian cultures. So grandpa had passed away recently in 2007. They were actually found hanging in their apartment in 2018. So this is really recent, okay? So the two sons of the grandma and their wives, and then the daughter, who is a single mom at the time, you know, they were all living together with their wives. And then the daughter, who is a single mom at the time,

they were all living together with their children. They were five children. And together in this house under one roof, we have seven women, four men, and a total of 11 people. This is kind of important later. The seven women, four men. Now they do have other siblings.

So the grandma, she does have other sons, but they don't live inside the house. They do have another sister that doesn't live in the house, but this is just inside of their siblings. So the grandma, she does have other sons, you know, but they don't live inside the house. They do have another sister that doesn't live in the house, but this is just inside of their apartment. The family ran a shop next to their house, like right next to it, and this is a big family, so everyone worked really hard. Their business was successful enough to support all of them financially. They had three stores in the area, even opened up a plywood shop.

I mean, they were really loved. Like you have to be trusted to be a successful shop owner and they were really loved by the neighborhood. They're high functioning, well educated, sociable people, just super nice, inviting every single member of the family. That's what all the neighbors said. So July 1st of 2018 rolls around. And the Bataea family, their shop was set to open like it always does, five in the morning, every day without fail. A lot of the locals would wake up, pick up their

milk from the Bataia shop. They were just really good at making sure that they didn't leave anyone hanging or waiting. And at around 7 a.m., one of the neighbors looks at her window and she's really confused. I mean, why is there a small line forming outside the shop? They're not like, this is not supreme. They're not selling something crazy. Why is there a line? There's never been a line. It's not that busy, but when she looks closer she realizes the shop itself isn't even open. Okay, that's, it's not even an holiday, and even on holidays they don't close. That's bizarre. That's not good business. So she's worried, she's concerned, but she's also kind of curious. Why are they not open? She tries

calling them, Nobody picks up. Now another neighbor had noticed the same thing, but decided to check up on them physically this time, went to their front door of their house, and it was unlocked. So he pushed it open, and he said that immediately he knew it wasn't good, like something was weird. He felt uncomfortable, he feels like he's invading their privacy almost, but he walks in, because he's worried about them. So the way that it is, it's like a gate at the bottom of the stairs, and usually you keep that locked, because once you go up the stairs, I mean it's like their front door. He goes up to the stairs to the main house entrance, and he starts rushing out. Call the police, call the police, there's a suicide, it's a suicide.

Now, by the time that the first officer arrives at the house, like I said, he's already annoyed. There's just crowds of people up and down the stairs of this apartment that he's been called to because there's been a suicide. In and out, just screaming, hysterically sobbing, like, what's there a deal? Why are they going in there? I need to close down the scene, I need to explain this to my boss, like I'm gonna get in trouble. He's upset, but the minute that he walks in and sees the scene of all nine of them hanging from the same metal grate on the ceiling, like a Rubik's Cube he said, like a Banyan tree. All of those thoughts just disappeared. And he was terrified, he'd never seen anything like this, even in the movies he's never

seen stuff like this. So he walks from room to room, there were four rooms in total and he finds another woman hanging. This is the 10th person. The strange thing that would later bother investigators is that her feet were touching the ground. They had to run an autopsy, but he just kept thinking to himself,

how do you die from hanging when your feet are touching the ground? Maybe she was unconscious and then hung up? Because wouldn't it be human nature to put your feet on touching the ground. Maybe she was unconscious and then hung up? Because wouldn't it be human nature to put your feet on the ground? To not, I don't know, choke, to not fixate? That's so weird. Then he goes to another room. Then he finds an 80-year-old elderly woman laying on the ground with a scarf tied around her neck, and she was laying next to her bed. She was obviously dead. This made 11 bodies total. And all 11 people were residents of this house.

They were all family. Three generations of the Batsia family were dead. Some of the youngest of the dead were 12 years old. The oldest was 80 years old, and none of this makes sense. I mean, he's just thinking, who are these people? Why would a family do this to themselves? Or did someone do this to them? I mean, it's confusing. There's no signs of a forced entry, no signs of burglary, robbery, nothing, not even signs of a struggle inside.

There's nothing tipped over, there's no blood anywhere, the bodies that are hanging, there's no evidence of bruising, there's no evidence that they were forced to be hung. So the police are completely lost on how to handle this. Honestly, I don't even know if I can blame them for not knowing where to start on this case. They start arguing, think about it. Let's say a killer did this. They forced them at knife point or gun point to do this to themselves.

Because there wasn't bruising or physical defense of wounds on the body, like I said. Which means that the potential killer, if there was one, would have to make all 11 of these people, all three different generations cooperate with them. How do you make 11 people cooperate? You outnumber them. That's really the only reason. That's the only way how right? You might need at least six, maybe 11 people, if not 30 people, to pull off something like

this, because you're not talking about a bank heist. You're talking about families with children, three generations. Most likely a family isn't going to go down without a fight when their children are threatened. So how many people are involved? So let's guesstimate safely. Let's say maybe it's anywhere between 11 to 30 people. Why would 11 to 30 people get together and do this to the Bautia family who was just a regular average middle class family. They didn't have money, nothing was even stolen, in fact the family had jewelry on and they were still on. No one took their rings, their necklace, there's nothing. Maybe they were poisoned? Maybe the whole family was poisoned and then they were blindfolded,

tied up and hung to make it look like a suicide, but that's really alarming. What a bizarre way to set the scene. I mean, the way that they're hanging, it's meticulous. It doesn't feel rushed. Why would someone do that? It still comes down to the question of like, why would anyone do that to this family? But if it is suicide, which is the only other option, why would they blind themselves? Why would they blindfold themselves?

Why would they tie their hands up and their legs together? Most of the family members were tightly bound using double knots. So this is really tight. Some of the family's hands weren't tied as tightly. Does that mean something? Some didn't have leg, legs tied. Does that mean something? The tenth woman that was found her feet were touching the ground. The grandma, she was on the floor. Did she commit suicide, too? How did she commit suicide? Why would the whole family even commit suicide at the same time? So while the police are just asking themselves these very important puzzling questions, the

news is spreading like wildfire. I mean, there had been about 50 customers that had lined up outside the store demanding their morning milk. They were just waiting around. And like I said, the family lived about 50 customers that had lined up outside the store demanding their morning milk. They were just waiting around. And like I said, the family lived right next door to the store. So when chaos hits, the neighbors running out there, you know, they're dead, suicide, what do we do?

They all started rushing up and down the stairs, like, let me check it out. Let me see what's going on. Are you sure? Can I do something to help? They were taken a look. Some even took a video of the scene of the family hanging from the ceiling.

It was a two minute video. They uploaded to the internet. Before the police even got there. They started sending it and it was circulating around like what's at what's at chat groups. Wow, that's really hard to say. What's at chat groups? And it was just like this explosion of pure chaos. Like people were trying to get onto the rooftops of buildings

that were next door to get a look. What are the police gonna do? And a lot of the public, they were concerned. They were a bit worried, okay. The story itself is bizarre. They heard a rumor. The neighbors said, oh yeah, they were hanging. They're all 11 of them.

They're dead. It was a mass suicide. But of course, it's just so weird. That another what neighbor would say, I just, I mean mean that family was so normal Why would they do that? I just cannot see them doing that so all of the communities started thinking are you sure the police aren't gonna fork it up? Are you sure? Because I mean I heard that one officer tell another officer that he thought it was suicide

And I'm just sitting here like well we and the community don't think that that's suicide We think it's murder. What kind of idiot would think it's suicide? They're probably just gonna close the case saying that it was suicide. So they start getting this like anger. This like a Advanced anger to the police before the police really did anything. The crowd was just getting upset. There's just no way. Don't let them treat this like a suicide. It was murder. I haven't even seen the scene, but just by hearing about it, even I know it's murder.

Like that was the environment. Now the police have to get to work ASAP documenting everything in this house, going over any potential evidence. On top of that, they've got to number the bodies and start taking pictures of the way that the bodies were found at the scene. And while they're marking, they said that it was just traumatizing for the whole crime scene text because the bodies would start swaying. They're suspended. the scene and while they're marking they said that it was just traumatizing for the whole crime scene text because the bodies would start swaying. They're suspended. So they were moving around and just

suspended from the ceiling while they're trying to get to the bottom of this. After they document everything they get the bodies to the morgue to be autopsyd and meanwhile the police are focused on preventing a riot outside. At one point, there was 10,000 people. Just gathered outside. There was no way to even move around. They just wanted to figure out what the hell was going on. People were coming in from neighboring towns and cities to be like, what the heck is happening on this?

I mean, this was an explosion of a case because none of it was making sense. So you spread it that fast? Yes. I think there was a good amount of people who truly just had no hope in the police who had lost all faith in them and really wanted them to get justice for this family because they believed that the family was murdered. But I do think that there was a large number of people who just- they were curious. They wanted to be a part of something that was so insane. And to- and to get the first information that they could, there were a lot of reporters at the scene

like it was absolute... just hell, honestly. And they wanted answers. And the police aren't giving it to them. So journalists, news, press media, all of them, the public, they're looking for who would want this family dead because all of them are on the same page. It definitely doesn't sound like suicide. Sure, they weren't in there. They're not part of the investigation, but to them, it doesn't sound like suicide. I mean, even to me, I'm like, what? Suicide really, that doesn't make sense. They start breaking down the family tree, trying to see if any of the 11 victims had enemies.

So grandma, her name was Nariani, and she was the oldest. She was 80 years old. She was the one that was found dead on the ground near her bed. She lived with her two sons, Boothnash, and he was married to Savita. Now, Savita was this hard worker. People who knew her said that she was busy working all the time. She had really no hobbies, no outside life. Family was her top priority.

Everything came after. She never really asked her to demand anything from anyone. She just kind of did her own thing. hobbies, no outside life, family was her top priority, everything came after, she never really asked her demanded anything from anyone, she just kind of did her own thing, she was a very smart woman, that's what people said, and together they were a quote, normal, simple couple. They never really fought, released that's what friends and family knew, they just kind of got along. Then the youngest son of the family was Lalit, now Lalit was married to a woman by the name of Tina.

Tina's family was worried when she first got married to Lalit because I mean she's going to be living with her in-laws. It's a very common in Asian cultures, it's rough. You got to work hard as the daughter-in-law. You live under their rules. And there's a lot of tradition in the sense that the son is the king. And they're like, oh my son, how dare you make my son do the dishes!

So they were really worried. But they slowly started calming down because they realized that Lalit and Tina were kind of the perfect couple. They had respect in their relationship, they listened to each other, they were compatible, they really seemed like they were made for each other. All of the kids and the daughters in the family especially, they were intelligent with bold personalities, they were really not the type to just bow down to anyone or anything. They all had their own degrees, one of the daughters Priyanka just got a job as an executive, I mean they were doing well.

So who the hell would want them dead? So the press they start going to the neighbors of this family. You gotta tell us, give us the juice, give us the tea, we want it dead. So the press they start going to the neighbors of this family. You gotta tell us. Give us the juice. Give us the tea. We want it all. There's no tea. I mean, they were just...buffed. I mean, my kids called them aunties. The kids in the family were so well behaved that even the parents in the neighborhood would look at their kids and say, why can't you be more like them? Huh? They were really close with neighbors. They always wanted to help. I mean, they were generous people. Well, did they fight a lot? I bet they fought a lot. There's 11 people in there. Maybe there's like that one black sheep of the family, maybe they would visit.

What about the kids that don't live with them, huh? Did they come over, did they fight? No, I mean, I'm sure they fought, but the walls are pretty thin here, and no one really ever heard them raise their voices at each other or really anyone. They were just really kind-hearted people. I don't know what to tell you. So now the press is getting frustrated. Okay, so if nobody wanted them dead, did they commit suicide? But when they talk to the family members, the extended family members of the family, there were some odd things. I mean, yeah, most family members in this situation are not gonna believe that they're loved ones. All of them took their own lives. I would some odd things. I mean, yeah, most family members in this situation are not going to believe that they're loved ones. All of them took their own lives.

I would never believe that. I would fight against this theory. I'd be like, are you kidding me? No, I know my family better than anyone, right? But there were other factors that even the press got behind. Which is the fact that 10 days before the incident, they had this massive family party for Priyanka, one of the kids. She was in her 20s the executive, right?

She had just gotten engaged and it was this big bash. They spent a good amount of money on it They were about to spend a good amount of money on her wedding and everyone was dancing There were videos of this having an absolute blast and in the very spot that they had the party You're telling them ten days later all all 11 of them, including the newly engaged Priyanka committed suicide. So now the press is like, okay, normally like we're like, oh well of course the family's gonna say that, but this is strange. That's like a weird detail. They had to agree, that's weird. And that just kind of further the theory that the police were hiding something. How could the police even think suicide is an option?

Are they dumb? Or maybe they know who did it? And they want to protect that person. Or maybe they just don't want to do their jobs. What's the deal here? There's got to be some crazy conspiracy going on because nothing is making sense. Nothing is fitting into this puzzle in a way that our minds, as just a third party viewer,

can understand, can wrap our heads around. Any reporter that brought up suicide as a theory was also heavily critiqued by the public. They would be yelled at, are you working for the police? Are you just a little pawn for the police? You think they took their own lives? To be fair though,

the police were looking at a lot of different angles. They did want to rule out suicide, so they looked everywhere for a suicide note, and they couldn't find one. Which again is odd, because I mean if that many family members were to commit suicide, they didn't have a note. No last words, not one of them wanted to leave something. And on top of that, on closer look, Bovenesh, the son, he's 53, he looked like he had tried to free himself almost.

One of his hands were free from the restraints. That's strange. Could that be considered a sign of a struggle? Maybe he changed his mind last minute? I mean, that's really weird. So they bring the bodies in to be autopsy, and they hoped that this would just kind of bring in some sort of clarity to the situation. Maybe they were drugs, and even just bringing the bodies to the morgue was like the most intense situation.

They needed 11 ambulances, dozens of paramedics and police. Mind you, there's a crowd of close to 10,000 people that are still there that refused to go home, watching their every move with cameras. Some of the family members couldn't even make it down the steps, so they couldn't carry them down. They had to literally suspend them from the balcony and then catch their bodies to put them into the ambulance. And the whole crowd that had been so angry, so outraged earlier, I think in this moment,

this is like when everyone realized they were just flooded with sadness. It didn't matter regardless of what you thought the police were doing or were not doing, at the end of the day, the family was gone. 11 of them were dead. So while they were investigating, maybe it was the chaos in the beginning, but the police had spotted a CCTV camera right across from the house entrance. This would be able to tell them when and who went into this house. If there was a killer, they would probably be caught on camera.

I mean, they would have to check through every single second of this, every single microsecond. Not skip a single second of footage that they had, even check the night before. Check every piece of information that saved on that camera, even if it's days before. And that's when they notice something strange. Two days before the deaths, they see Tina, who is the elite's wife, with her son, who's

15, bringing home four new stools that they bought. I mean, it's a big family, okay? Maybe they were out of stools. Then the night of the incident, at 9.46pm, Tina and the two another family member come home with plastic stools that were purchased at a nearby market. Then about an hour later, Lalit's son goes to open up their shot shop again, which was close at this point, and brings out a small bundle of wires into the house, the same looking wires that were found tying up the family.

Nobody else entered the house, or at least in view of the CCTV. They would have to be very difficult to get in any other way. Now the police think, maybe we were wrong. Maybe it wasn't suicide or murder. Maybe it was murder suicide. Maybe it's one of the family members. Now somehow this theory gets a leak to the press immediately, and the extended family of the Batsia family were super pissed. They kept asking the

press, what would you kill your mom? You wouldn't kill your mom? Answer me! Well then why would you accuse my family of killing their parents? Get out of here! Then the autopsy results came back. The medical examiner's working on this case said that this was so stressful, not from the public pressure, not from the high profile nature of the case, but the fact that it's just this huge responsibility. These 11 people on their table, they can't talk anymore. So it's their job to be these people's spokesperson, to find out what happened to them, and to tell the world,

and maybe tell the police so that they can get them justice, you know. If something really did happen, we got to get to the bottom of it. But all 10 of them had died of hanging. Grandma had died of partial hanging and strangulation. They went over, the police went over to check the house again because now they're like, okay, did we miss miss something maybe this isn't making sense they all did die of hanging there was no toxins in their system no poison like a lot of people had speculated even a lot of the police had speculated because the crime scene was just so bizarre so when they go back that's when they realize yes they didn't miss something something massive and entire alter with ashes it looks like a ritual had been performed recently.

What? So they start searching the area near the altar. I believe it was like near the roof, right? And they find something. It was in a suicide letter or a suicide note, but they come across a diary. And I mean, what the hell? How do you miss that, right?

So they start turning the house upside down, tearing it apart, looking for more diaries, more clues because they really can't fork it up now. The press is breathing down their necks. I mean the police are terrified for their lives. So they search the entire place and they find 11 diaries total. The earliest entry was in 2007 and the latest was 2018. Who's diary is this?

11 people, 11 diaries, 11 years documented. All of them? All of them did write in these diaries. When that came out, the contents of the diary didn't come out, right? But when the fact that they found 11 diaries with 11 people dead, with 11 years documented, the reporters they started noticing other things. Wait a minute. Everything in that house seems to be an eerie number.

The staircase railing look. 11 bars. How many bars are on that window? 11 bars. How many windows are there? 11 windows. But the strangest part was that on the side of their house there were 11 pipes sticking out of the house.

Now, this is, I think it's... Listen, I don't know, okay? It was really strange placement. They weren't lined up. It looked really randomly placed almost. There were 11 pipes total. I don't know what these pipes were for. It didn't look like water drainage.

You know how like, yeah, I got pipes running down your whole house so that if it rains, it gets the water from the roof down to your soil, right? It didn't look like that. It just was sticking out of the wall. Didn't lead to anything. Just air. Seven of them were facing down. Four of them were poking right out.

Seven of the family members were women. Four of them were facing down, four of them were poking right out, seven of the family members were women, four of them were men, then the reporters started getting crazy with it. They say if you take the pattern from the wall of the pipes and you put it on the ceiling, it matches the placement of where the bodies were found. 11 bodies, 11 pipes. Did you hear? I heard the police said it had something to do with the ritual. Maybe they wanted their souls to escape.

Because you can't open doors as a soul. Maybe through the pipes of the house, the side pipes, you get to leave. Your soul can leave. That makes sense. But the family members, the extended family members and the remaining members, they said, there's no special meaning behind the number of leaven, like we would have known that by now. It wasn't like a family number, no one's favorite number was 11. I just think it was a strange coincidence. So the press they hunt down the contractor who installed the pipes, and they interview him.

Why would you, I mean that's like the most random pipe placement, I'm not an architect, I'm not a contractor, but how is that beneficial for a house? Why did you install these pipes? Why are seven of them like this? Why are four of them like that? What's with the pattern? What's with it? How does it match the way that they were hanging? That doesn't make sense? And you just said no, no, no, the family wanted ventilation. They didn't want to add a full size window because then it would look into the windows of the neighbor. There's no special meaning. We just, we bought small pipes and some of them were facing down, some of them were not. So my workers are lazy, they didn't cut the ones that were facing down, they should have, but they just, they didn't.

And they also just placed them randomly. So there were a lot of questions from this interview. First of all, how do you get ventilation from pipes that are facing down? That just doesn't make sense that doesn't seem efficient to get air ventilation. I mean, seven of them, more than majority of them were facing down. The pattern is odd. I mean, the pattern is just so odd. They were okay with you doing that. Like, they made it and you could see it from the outside.

It was an eye sore. You just, that's how you do your job. Like, what? That's bizarre. But what would the contractor get from lying about something like this? Cause it makes him look bad. His workers are lazy, he doesn't cut the pipes,

he also just installs them in whatever random pattern that he sees fit, even though it's a massive eye sore. Probably really bad for curb appeal or resell, you know? So the later the public comes up with their own theory and they almost ruined someone's life for that theory. But first, we go back to the diaries. The police start coming through page by page of each journal and it was strange.

They said that the tone of it was very instructional. Sometimes scolding, like a parent would write it, that's a vibe of this. And the whole thing felt conversational, like it was a routine for the whole family. So it seemed like each morning, each family member would go, check the diary to find out their tasks for the day. Maybe your task is taking care of grandma.

Maybe it's as specific as performing a specific ritual at night, or maybe it's as mundane as stop using your phone at night. So for example, December 2017, there was an entry that says, Drew is spending too much time on the mobile phone. This must be corrected. And then someone would write back, like it was just bizarre.

Like it was a conversation happening in the diary, but it wasn't necessarily signed. We didn't know who this instructor was. There's multiple people writing back and forth. Yes, but every single family member is being addressed. So either someone's like writing and pretending to be someone else or it's somebody else that's not a part of the family.

Oh, okay. So each person, each 11 person was like, hey, did you do this person one, two, three, four, 11? You know, does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, there's an invisible person writing to them. Exactly. It feels like a separate entity. Now it has this really intense strange vibe because how does someone outside of the family know this much about them? Why are they this involved? Why do they care? And why would the family even listen to them?

They would literally tell each family member, do this, do that or I thought I told you to do this. How dare you disobey me? Do this. It would even say ominous things like instead of your own will, follow the will of the diaries. Don't think, what is the use? Because when it happens, your eyes will open, be fully prepared for that. And the family took it seriously. For example, one of the daughter-in-laws, remember Savita, was she was undergoing a change in life. Her family said that she seems sadder than usual. They didn't really know why. She spent all day, all night in the kitchen, never had interest, hobbies of her own nothing. She dropped them all.

It was so strange. But it coincided with the time and the diary that told her that she needs to tend to the kitchen from now on. And when she complained, it said things like, Savita has not been able to come to terms with her role in the kitchen. She must put an end to her temper tantrums. So they read through all 11 journals and they get up to speed. The last entry was one week before their deaths. The last page and the police found the entire crime scene laid out detail by

detail. The whole process was documented before it even happened. It was written a week before. And it said, Bad Pooja was the ritual. It would take place for seven full days. And the finale would be at around 1 a.m. Bad Pooja must be performed for seven days non-stop. If someone comes over, you must perform the next day. Nothing should be visible to you. perform the next day. Nothing should

be visible to you. Use dim lights. Your eyes should be closed. Better to blindfold them. Properly tie the blindfold around your eyes. Your mouth should be gagged using a hanker chief. And the state of your mind has to be at a zero. Keep the mind completely empty. Nothing. the mind completely empty, nothing but infinity. While standing at attention, imagine the branches of the tree are wrapping themselves around you. Perform the Banyan tree ritual with unity and determination. This will help your repent for your mistakes. Perform the Banyan tree ritual like this.

Make sure that you are bound tightly. God should be impressed by your dedication. Devotion must be honest. Use a damp cloth to place into your mouth. If not, duct tape it to cover your mouth. During the ritual, here's what's gonna happen. He will come and save you all. You will be fine. It will be great. And God will be pleased. Knowing that eleven great, and God will be pleased. Knowing that eleven of you are standing in line with one thought and one thought only, together, whole, do not panic while performing the ritual, whether the earth shakes or the

skies might tremble, do not weaken your resolve. Explain it to the children. They must keep chanting. The chanting should last anywhere between five to 15 minutes. Lalit is instructed to protect each and every one of you. One person will do the work of tying all the nooses when all the blinds are secure. Lalit will give you a signal with a small stick.

He will place a bowl of water outside. And when that water changes color, I will return." They even had the reason why grandma wasn't with the rest of the family. She was to hang herself from her closet door, essentially just strangle herself because she was too overweight to hang from the ceiling and get onto a stool, so she would have to perform it by herself lying down. Now the police question, did she really have to perform it by herself lying down.

Now the police question, did she really do that? Because, I mean, that's a really hard thing to do to strangle your own self, okay? Or was she forced? Side note, some of grandma's injuries did look like someone might have forced her. So she had these light markings on her arms and her neck that looked like if someone were to hold her tightly. Like to kind of hold her arms tightly or her neck tightly. And only one side of her neck had injuries.

Whereas if you were to strangle yourself, you would assume that it's both sides. Now later, when the diary was leaked to the price because yeah, of course it was, everyone immediately thought of the contractor. Not him, but his daughter. Remember, they were like, why would he lie about something like this? But it's so odd, why would he do that? Why would he not cut the pipes? Why would he also place it like that? His daughter's name was Gita, and they thought that maybe she was the one telling the family to do this. She was the one in the diary instructing them. Now, there were only three reasons why the public thought this.

The first, she was always wearing red. What? Yeah. So they just kind of associated that color with someone like a, with a spiritual or religious, you know, kind of guide. Two, her dad was the one that installed the pipes. And the pipes are very similar to the whole ritual. Three, accusing someone specific of murder,

got a lot of journalists and a lot of reporters, a lot of clicks, a lot of attention. So there was a lot of, I guess, capitalism involved on that one. And she firmly denied it. And the police already kind of had an idea of who wrote the letters, so they didn't think that it was Gita. They thought the person writing the letters was the late grandpa Bopal Singh. The one who died?

Yes. The journals started almost immediately after his passing. And they think that he was the one writing these letters. What kind of? Okay, hear me out. So Grandpa was the head of all three generations. This is Naryani, the grandma found in the house, her husband. Everyone in the family, all three generations,

listened to Grandpa. He was their leader. Everyone took his advice. They took everything he said very seriously. He gave everyone advice on how to grow their business, their marriage razor-cated how to invest their money Everything and they listened and grandpa was not a wealthy man by any means So everyone said that he was super reliable hardworking honest like he didn't drink he didn't smoke you and gamble He devoted his entire life to his family

But slowly there was just tragedy, the kept hitting the family. The first was Lully, it's first accident. This is the youngest son of the family, the baby of the family. He was always the mischievous one, so he's just the one that made everyone laugh. It seemed like he brought everyone together.

And when he was young, he had fallen off his bike. Now the details of this incident are unclear, but it was bad. He suffered serious head injuries. He'd be hospitalized for days, and ever since then he had this habit of like dozing off in the middle of conversations. He just couldn't control when he would fall asleep. So the family, they were stressed like how is he going to get a job? What do we do?

This is our baby. I mean all the siblings were upset like this is literally our baby. Then, the second incident, they had to sell the dairy farm. So they originally were not from the city, they were from a village, they had this eight acre plot of land, they had all these cows, I mean it was beautiful, they lived with nature, and grandpa had a lot of these kids, and each time they got married he had to pay quite a bit to the wife's family, and for the wedding, and for all of these things, it got to the point where he started backing up debt to pay for these marriages. And he had to sell his eight acres of land, the dairy farm that was his family's full

source of income, and they moved to the city looking for opportunity. And they had to work hard, and they really just were not making a lot of money. I mean, all of them were working. It just, they were paycheck to paycheck. Then in March of 2004, Lelyt gets attacked. He's working at a plywood shop for someone else this time, and he had gotten into this argument about payments with his boss, like his boss wasn't paying him. And not too long after that, he finds himself beat up, knocked unconscious in one of the

worksheds. There were stacks of plywood on him, and the shed was on fire. So someone had knocked him out, locked him in there, and set the whole was on fire. So someone had knocked him out, locked him in there and set the whole place on fire. Whether to kill him, maybe it was insurance fraud and they were going to blame him. I mean, it's unclear, but he almost died. Thankfully, he wakes up, calls for help, and they calm and they rescue him. And he's alive, but it was a little too late. People speculated because of the intense smoke and elation, he lost his voice for three

years. Whoa. His kids were born, but he couldn't even talk to them, or even say their names out loud. He couldn't even whisper. He had no voice. He would continue to communicate writing on paper. And then three years later, in 2007, Grandpa died. Now this whole family, I mean, they're lost. They're in this city. Nobody has great jobs. They're paycheck to paycheck. They've got 11 people, I mean, he was their leader.

Now they don't even have someone to look at and say, hey, what should I do for my business now? Hey, what school should I go to? What should I do with my kids? Who's the head of the house now? A few months after Grandpa dies, Lalit starts getting visited in his dreams. My grandpa, my dad. And he starts sharing these conversations with his family.

He starts writing them down. And one of the younger daughters told the neighbor once, my uncle is possessed by my grandpa's spirit. Interesting. So Lili is the one that's writing it. So Lili wants them to start chanting these poems at the altar every single week. That's what grandpa told him to do, right?

That's what his dad told him to do. So they all took his instruction and they all chanted every single week. Well, of course except for Lelite because he had lost his voice. But on one of those nights, he starts to sing. And everyone stood in silence, not wanting to stop him, not knowing what to do, really. I mean, this is the man who couldn't speak for over three years now. Nothing made him speak. Even if you scared him, he couldn't scream. They'd never heard a sound coming from him.

But now, he was singing. And they were blessed by Grandpa. That's what it was, because they followed Grandpa's instruction to chant and pray to him every single week. And to this, the family, I mean, this is a moment that defied logic, this defied medical knowledge. It was the moment where they put all of their trust into grandpa, because grandpa made this happen. And grandpa is talking through Lalit.

So technically, they have to talk to Lalit, they have to follow Lalit, because whatever Lalit says is on the direction of grandpa. So the new leader becomes the elite, the youngest son. After he regained his voice, everyone just started listening to him. He took his dad's place because maybe he was becoming his dad. Whatever the elite said was law. Because it was the same as grandpa saying it. They wouldn't question it. They would just do it.

Even all the kids, which, you know, they're probably the most rebellious thing about it. If they're, what, 15 and 2018? These are the types of kids. This is like the modern era. These are the new generation of kids that are like, wait, why do I have to do that? I'm not that traditional. I don't want to do that, right?

But they listen to Lalit intently. Lalit would be possessed by grandpa spirit multiple times a week, and every time his voice would change, he would sound like grandpa. He started behaving like grandpa, speaking like him. I mean, everyone was shook. Lalit even started addressing his mom as Naryani, which is what his dad used to call her. Just by her name. So everyone was super convinced, including his own mother, that whatever Lalit said was

grandpa saying it, and they needed to follow it. And it worked. They took his marriage advice, they took their career advice, the whole family started succeeding more. They went from going paycheck to paycheck to opening up three shops. One of the daughters, Priyanka, she got an executive position, they were graduating college, the sons were doing well financially, they opened up their own plywood shop, they were getting married to nice people from nice families, I mean they were being awarded by their grandpa for listening to him.

Well, to Lalit, but what's the difference? The general entries were grandpa talking to everyone and they said things like, after I leave, all of you must go to sleep. No need for discussions. My visitations are not an ordinary occurrence. Do not take my visits lightly. God's will must not be taken lightly. Don't worry about Lalit's health. My visits will affect him physically, but only sleep can heal him. So it seemed that every time Lalit was possessed

by his grandpa, he would be physically exhausted, I don't know, right? Don't worry about his health. Only sleep can heal him. And a lot of the diary entries were about Lalit. They would say things like, you're making Lalit very anxious all of you. Lalit's instructions must be followed

or else the outcome will be disastrous. Every time you default on your promises, you go back on your word, Lalit and Tina have to pay the price. But you all, you all seem to forget that. If you want solutions to your problems, you'll have to follow the lead's instructions. And the family did. There were also a lot of threats. In the journals, they said things like, do not disobey my instructions in the diaries.

Despite making mistakes, you come to me every night and claim you have made no mistakes. Remember, the vibrations of your old mistakes never end. They never die. They follow you. If God's warnings are not heated, God might summon you in person. A big question that a lot of people had was, did Tina know? Tina is Lilith's wife, right? I mean, it's hard to say. Some people that knew her said that she seemed like she did. She was a smart girl. Her and Lilith shared everything with each other. She probably thought this was the simple easy way out.

It's easy. It's not easy living with the in-laws, right? It's difficult, especially in Indian culture, in Asian culture, typically, it's rough. You're expected to do everything for your husband. Now this gives her some sort of power in the house. She's a bit more comfortable this way. She's actually even on top of Nayanii, which is her mother-in-law.

But is there a way that she believed this, actually? She had a sociology degree. She literally had a master's in sociology, which they study human nature and how we behave. But a lot of smart people can become victims, a lot of smart people. But a lot of the diary entries were just so interesting, they would say things like all your present happiness or thanks to the lead and Tina's efforts. Even the smallest mistake you make is taking a toll on the lead and Tina's health and well-being. You must

protect low lead and Tina at all costs. But maybe Tina did believe it, because the Lollida and Tina's hands were not tied well. So she probably helped him tie everyone else up, because the kids, the specifically the third generation, their hands and their legs were tied the tightest. Her own kids included. I just can't imagine that she wouldn't try to escape. Her legs weren't tied up, along with the elites. I mean, that's, I just can't imagine, yeah, she wouldn't try to escape unless she truly believed. Now, what about this voice, right? Why would

the elite do something like this? What about him losing his voice? What was that about? Did he really get it? I mean, was this sort of miracle like the family truly believed? Like a moment that defied logic and that defied medical knowledge, but there was no medical history that showed that Lelique had a stroke, had a brain bleed, physical damage to this throat, trauma to the body or a disease, which is typically how you lose your voice later in life.

Like forever, not just like, oh, I lost my voice because I was screaming at a concert, you get it. So it seemed like maybe it was more of a psychological problem. Maybe he was so disturbed from the accident of almost being murdered, which is understandable that he didn't want to talk, or that he felt that he couldn't. Or maybe the more sinister solution or the more sinister responses, maybe it was all an act. So why would the elite want to pretend to be his grandpa?

Some people say it's just he wanted the power. He wanted to be the one that had the ultimate say. He was always mischievous and naughty growing up, he hated people telling him what to do. Maybe he didn't want one of his older brothers to assume the role. And he didn't think that he was going to get it because he was the youngest. So he had to do something. He had to do something drastic. Other people think it's because he was never treated for his PTSD. And potentially maybe the serious head injuries also played a role.

Because we know a lot of like, I'm not trying to compare into a serial killer, but we do know a lot of like killers or people who do some very intense things. They've had a lot of brain injuries. Like there's always like they're always like falling off slides, no swings, right? Maybe that had a role in it. Some psychologists who were not his, right? But a lot of psychologists in the Netflix series said that if you leave untreated trauma for that long, and maybe there's some underlying mental illness that hasn't surfaced yet, psychosis might start to set in, and one of the biggest symptoms of psychosis is hearing voices, so maybe he truly believed that he did hear his grandpa's

voice. And because he's hallucinating and he's not in his right frame of mind because he's undergoing psychosis, it's the PTSD, maybe he believed everything that the voice was telling him to. Like truly, maybe he believed it. But some speculate, no he didn't. The reason that he did this was he was thick on power for 11 years. He loved it.

He loved being the head of the house. But then, there was a triggering moment. Remember that party two weeks before the deaths? A lot of people argued no, they wouldn't commit suicide because why would they just have this party? But now in hindsight, with the diaries come to light, people think this party was the one that triggered him. Because one of his followers, Priyanka, she was leaving.

And he didn't want anyone to leave. Then he started realizing that all of them will start leaving. He will have no followers. Some people speculate that if he was thinking clearly, maybe it's not even about the followers. Maybe it's the fact that Priyanka was getting too close to her husband. She would move in with her husband and her husband's family, and after a couple of months of thinking she might think, wow, that was really weird what happened at my house. And then she might tell him.

She might tell her husband what happened at her house. That kind of makes sense, too. Yeah. So it's kind of like this question that we will never have the answer to did the elite have psychosis? Did he genuinely think that he was following the lead and instruction of his grandpa because he was hearing his grandpa's voice or was it a lot more sinister? Did he want this power? He took it in a way and then he just spiraled out of control. People were leaving, people were going to tell someone. He felt like the only way to end it was this way.

Because you have to also keep in mind, there's different cultures in different countries, and that's kind of part of the whole case, which is the fact that I feel like a lot of Asian countries are a lot less forgiving when you do things like this. They're a lot less forgiving if you do something that is quote unquote crazy and you gotta be sent is quote unquote crazy and you

got to be sent to a psychiatric hospital, you know. So maybe he really felt like, oh, if it gets out of Priyanka, tell someone, they're going to think that I'm crazy when all I really wanted was some power. So now I got to end it because just facing the fear of like, I don't know, being a social outcast could be a lot worse in India. Now 11 years is a long time. Why did nobody challenge him? Why did nobody question him?

Like that's a huge thing. The belief is that nobody thought that they were going to go through with it. So the journal itself, the diary, it's said that you will be saved by him. And even at the end, it's said that you you all help each other untie one another. So a lot of people genuinely believe that none of the family members, well, we don't really know about Lalit and Tina, but none of the rest of the family members believed that they were going to die. They thought it was really just a ritual. They were going to stand there, put their faith in him, then this person was going to come, save them,

and go back to their normal schedule tomorrow. None of them were acting different. A lot of their friends had talked to him the day of, a lot of their co-workers talked to them the day of. There were no plans to leave. But he planned it differently. Yes. Or whether he believed it or whether he intentionally planned it differently. And where's the difference?

What happened? So they thought that someone was gonna come. Grandpa was gonna come and save them. I don't know if maybe they thought truly, Grandpa was gonna come, or maybe they thought that Lalit was gonna save them and this was just them showing their devotion to Grandpa. I see, I see.

I think genuinely, it was probably Lalit. They were like, oh yeah, this is like a showing our devotion. But I don't know if Lalit thought Grandpa was gonna come, or if he was, oh yeah, this is like a showing our devotion. But I don't know if the elite thought grandpa was going to come. Or if he was like, yeah, this is the only way we're all going to die. It's so frustrating, no? Yeah. Now the children, especially, they were tied tighter than the rest. They probably didn't even want to do the ritual, let alone.

They definitely didn't want to die. Like they had their whole lives to look forward to. They were doing well in school. They were getting good jobs. I mean, they had their whole lives to look forward to. They were doing well in school. They were getting good jobs. I mean, they were not suicidal. They were not trying to die for grandpa for anyone, really. So it's like this question of what is this crime? I mean, so they have no intentions to die, so it's not technically suicide.

But even in the diary, it said, we're all going to untie each other's afterwards. So we're going to help each other. So really, it's not suicide. But they went along with it. So is it technically murder by Lilith? I mean, personally, I think it is because they didn't realize what they were actually gonna die. Nobody was gonna save them.

But the police called it an accidental death, a case of shared psychosis. What? Which I don't know how to feel about that. And how does the other family members feel? I mean, they are just so lost and confused. So they are saying they have no clue this is happening? Yeah, no clue.

What? Yeah. Again, I think it has to do with cultures. Very strong in South Korean culture as well. You really just don't talk about family business outside of the house. Even with other family members. Or a lot of times, like families don't want to embarrass your own family.

Like it's like, oh, embarrassing, yeah. Exactly. So this, I mean, I think that this was a wake-up call for a lot of different cultures, because I mean, mental health is so stigmatized even here, but a lot worse in Asia, you know, coming from an Asian. Yeah, a lot worse in Asia. So they're thinking, well, if he did go to a psychiatrist

After his traumatic almost attempted murder which the doctors recommended he goes to a psychiatrist But everyone around him told him like that's for crazy people Quotan quote crazy people he thought is for crazy people so he didn't maybe if the PTSD was treated Maybe he wouldn't hear these voices or maybe he never heard the voices Then he probably still should have seen us like a chitress because what's going on there? And I think it was also like the whole public reception nobody really accepted mental health. They were like now it's either murder or suicide. Does that make sense? Like it just wasn't even a question really. Yeah. And that is the case of the botteia family. And I...

Ah, listen, I don't even know. I really have no thoughts that mean anything like I just feel... I mean, it's devastating. I mean, those young kids, those poor young kids, if I truly believe that they did not want to die, I truly believe that they were like, okay, well, we're just going to do this thing with my family and then tomorrow it's just another day, right? I can't imagine what they were thinking in those last minutes when they realized no one's coming. We're hanging from the ceilings. And it's just sucks because we're never going to get answers for this one. What are your thoughts on this? And did you guys watch the Netflix series?

House of Secrets? Let me know and I hope you guys enjoyed this week's mini-suit and I will see you guys on Wednesday. Bye.