Early on 1 July 2018, the residents of Sant Nagar, Burari, an overcrowded neighbourhood of North Delhi, made an alarming discovery. Three generations of the Chundawat family, also known as the Bhatias, were found bound and hanging in their home.
The three-part Netflix documentary series House Of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021), directed by Leena Yadav and Anubhav Chopra, is an insightful but hard watch about the untold secrets of the family that led to this horrifying tragedy.
The first episode, which features the inputs of the neighbours, police officers, crime branch officers and other family members, takes us through what was discovered that day. Each salacious detail unearthed threw the media into a frenzy. The news that had spread quickly about the murder case was disturbing. However, as details emerged, reporters realized that this incident was far more disturbing than they thought before. Eleven members of the family, ranging in age from 15 to 80, were found hanging, blindfolded with their hands bound and cotton in their ears. The elderly matriarch, Narayani Devi, was the only one found in another room. The family dog Tommy was the sole voiceless survivor.
Yadav and her team travelled to the families’ hometowns in Dhar and Narayngarh to interview the perplexed, grieving families of Savita and Tina, the two daughters-in-law. The surviving siblings who did not live in Delhi were unable to come to terms with the concept of mass suicides.
The Chundawats’ neighbours, employees and friends have nothing but good things to say about the tightly knit family. In fact, they had been celebrating the upcoming engagement of 33-year-old Priyanka. As episodes, two and three revealed, this case was more complicated than was reported: there were signs that a havan (ritual pyre) had also been present. The series showcases the inner workings of a family due to the extensive diaries they kept and their immense wealth. Viewers get to see the youngest son, 47-year-old Lalit, who became de facto head of the family after his father Bhopal Singh’s death. The show delves into the far-reaching influence of the late patriarch.
The series, which includes those assigned to and covering the case at the time, along with psychologists and psychiatrists, looks at the difficult questions about mental health that we collectively ignore in society. We want these questions to remain inside the family. House Of Secrets was produced by Yogendra More and Katherine Leblond. The series features a non-intrusive but compelling score, composed and produced by AR Rahman and Qutub-e-Kripa. It has been shot by Aseem Bajaj, Anshuman Singh Thakur and Anirban Chatterjee.
This series uses CCTV and news footage and home videos to give us a sense of the furore that surrounded the case. It also includes recreations and interviews with those involved at the time to give us a better understanding of events.
The series covers all aspects of the incident, so much so that one wonders whether the eerie occurrence was really a mass suicide or a series of murders or just one giant tragedy. Those involved in the case are scratching their heads. Like many documentaries, there are answers, yes, but it also raises many questions whose answers can only be proffered by those who are no more.
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