The whodunit might be solved but the mystery of how and why 11 members of a family died in their home in north Delhi's Burari locality will endure, with its suggestion of occult practices spotlighting bizarre rituals ending in human sacrifices that exist in many parts of the country.
Blurring the lines between delusion, superstition and blind faith, it's a narrative that cuts across lines of class, religion and literacy, say experts.
Many of these cases are related to child sacrifices.
Last month, for instance, a man from Rajasthan admitted to slitting his daughter's throat to appease Allah during Ramzan. In January 2016, a Chhattisgarh father confessed to beheading his son for the "well-being of his family".
The several instances of women being killed or tortured in the belief that they are witches, the hypnotic influence of men passing themselves off as babas and mystics, and bizarre cult practices only add to this chronicle.
How does a parent kill a child? How does an entire family get pulled into a suicide pact?
"That is the danger of cult like behaviour. The cults are very secretive," Nayak said. "The cult first isolates you from the family, then from friends, then society. And so they become very closed. They are brainwashed and do what the top figure wants them to do."