Bone-chilling series decodes the Burari deaths’ mystery

“House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths.” Photo: Collected

"House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths," a documentary series, was released on 8 October on Netflix. The 3-episode docu-series is based on the shocking death of 11 people of the same family that shook entire India in 2018.

Chundawat family, a joint-family consisting of 11 members that cover three generations, resided in Burari - at the heart of the capital Delhi. It is a normal and well-functioning family. They have a plywood and milk business and have a good relationship with their neighbours. 

One fine morning, all of the 11 members were found dead. Ten of them were found hanging from iron bars in one room while the grandmother Narayan Devi, the eldest one of the family, was found lying on the floor in an adjacent room. There were indications that she was strangled. All others are blindfolded, hands tied and mouth taped. The main door of the house was open.

Four straight and seven twisted pipes were discovered on the outerwall of the house, which eerily correspond with how the four male and seven female members of the family were discovered hanging inside the house. During investigations, handwritten notes were found inside the house that describe the whole procedure of carrying out such deaths. The way each of them were found dead literally matches the words written there.

Who wrote the directions in the diaries and who followed them accordingly? Well, CCTV footage confirmed that no outsider was involved in the deaths.

The incident shook the capital of India in 2018 but with time, it disappeared from news headlines and gradually from people's minds. Yet the mystery remained unsolved or the answers were vague.

Through the series, director Leena Yadav decided to decode the case and to bring the truth to light. With the use of archival media footage, some recreated sequences and testimonies of experts, director Leena Yadav makes you feel like you are there in person. 

The series includes interviews from all involved - neighbours, reporters, doctors, police officers, psychiatrists and who not - thus making the investigation quite thrilling.

The three episodes are very well organised. The first episode explains the incident and raises your curiosity and excitement, leaving all mysteries unanswered. The second episode reveals the truth but in a chilling way - no exaggeration, no unnecessary mysterious playback sounds. The final episode, disclosing some personal stories, is comparatively a bit boring, yet relevant.

The whole series doesn't show the faces of the hanging individuals, yet it doesn't fail to give you goosebumps. If you think documentary films are meant to be always boring, this one is surely going to change your mind.

So, is it a mass murder or a mass suicide? That's the ultimate million-dollar-question. What if the answer is 'none'? What can be a third possible way when the victims were found dead like this? The documentary series provides you with the answer.