Burari “religious suicide”: a journey of Superstitions and Shared Psychotic Disorder

Burari “religious suicide”:  a journey of Superstitions and Shared Psychotic Disorder

The Burari “mass suicide” that took place on this Saturday is something that shook the entire nation. It is one of the queer or I must say, creepy incidents that has occurred in the country and the house in which they lived has come to be known as the “haunted house”.

The Bhatias or the Chundawats, as they are being called by most of the newspapers were good, well off people. They were economically stable and had a good reputation in the society. Only few days ago they had guests come over and were celebrating Priyanka’s (Lalit’s niece) engagement.

                  

So, what triggered the family of 11 to commit this act? Was it some baba who started it? Or was it just some shared psychological disorder as the police is claiming it to be?

It has come to the police officials’ notice that the Chundawats were highly religious people who used to pray at 8 am, 12 pm and 10 pm. Maybe this is one of the reasons due to which they all fell into the trap of believing Lalit, the younger son of the family.

Let’s get into some details.

Lalit’s father and Narayani Devi’s husband, Late Gopal Das Bhatia, died in 2007 and the family went through a trauma. The diaries that were found in the household have entries from a little later only. It is only after a little time that Lalit started feeling that he could talk to his dead father. He claimed to be able to communicate with him and used to speak in his voice also. He used to talk to other members of his family and give them orders like his father used to. He soon became the head of the family and his family became dependent on him.

Everyone started trusting Lalit when he claimed that his father had helped them in expanding their business from 1 shop to 3 shops in a few years. He also claimed that when they were not able to find a match for Priyanka because she was manglik, they had a havan which his father also attended and helped them fix Priyanka’s marriage.

                            

The police found diaries and registers from their household having various entries starting from July 2007. They have various incidents and also the last words which said that his father would come and save them at the last moment. The diary also had the timings written for the procedure of the final kriya. The members were told to have their hands and legs tied, were asked to be blindfolded and were asked to stand on specific stools in specific places. The mother, who could not stand on the stool was asked to lie down in the other room.

But, I personally think that more than superstitious, it was the psychological problem that triggered the whole family to take such a severe step. It was Lalit’s condition that they could not decipher and fell prey to it.

So, what is shared psychotic disorder?

Shared psychotic disorder is a condition where a person who is usually delusional or paranoid makes other people believe in his delusions. He makes them think and feel that he is saying the truth and he can actually feel and see the things that he claims. The other people get also get affected by this condition and become dependent on the person. This disorder usually affects the long-term relationship where there is an emotional connect. It can be the head of the family or some cult leader who can influence his or her followers. Usually, the primary sufferer is the dominant while the rest are passive.

It is claimed that the Bhatias were suffering from this as they were also blindly following Lalit. They could not differentiate between wrong and right and were focused on his words and directions.

So, it was not only superstition but also the psychological disorder that made the Bhatias take the step of mass suicide. It killed not only the septuagenarian mother but also the young kids who were just 15 years old. Well, this is the 21^st century and we must not shy away from consulting a psychologist. Having a psychological problem does not “dimag kharab ho gaya hai”; it’s way more serious than that. We must not suffer and not take proper medication just because some nincompoops will make fun of us. There is only 1 psychologist for around 1 crore people in the country. Imagine having 1 physician for around 1 crore people.

It is very common to have a psychological problem but it’s consequences are way more severe. So, we must consult a psychologist before it’s too late. Let’s not be another Lalit to our family and protect ourselves and our family while we still can.

Thanks

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