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In wake of ‘human sacrifice’, bizarre web of sex & savagery leaves a Kerala village shellshocked

After allegedly murdering and torturing two women, the three arrested suspects also 'cooked and ate parts of their bodies'. Remains have been sent for postmortem, DNA testing.

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Kochi: The murderers of two women — killed in an alleged ritual human sacrifice in Kerala — also “fried and ate” parts of their victims’ bodies, police sources close to the investigation have told ThePrint.

The two murders took place three months apart in Kerala’s Elanthoor village. The police have said that the three arrested suspects — Muhammed Shafi, Bhagaval Singh and Singh’s wife, Laila — “tortured and murdered” the two women. The remains of the victims were then buried in their backyard.

According to a report seeking remand of the suspects, a copy of which is with ThePrint, the first victim — Rosli — was gagged and tied to a bed before being beheaded in June. The three then cut her body into pieces. Shafi allegedly made Singh cut Rosli’s vagina, and then roast it and eat it, said police sources.

Padma was allegedly murdered in September.

The ritual sacrifices, the police said, were carried out on the instructions of Shafi, a 52-year-old who claims to have occult powers.

According to the police, the three suspects were also involved in “bizarre erotic practices”, with Shafi and Laila engaging in ritualised sex in front of her husband. One ritual involved feeding Shafi’s semen to Singh, sources close to the investigation said.

Shafi is a history-sheeter and has about 10 cases registered against him, including for rape and attempt to murder, ThePrint has learnt. In 2020, he allegedly raped and mutilated a 75-year-old woman in Kochi, but was granted bail. Singh, 68, and Laila, 59, who live in Elanthoor, came in contact with Shafi via Facebook in 2019.

Shafi, 52, was using a Facebook profile under a fake name, ‘Sreedevi’, and convinced Singh that a black magic practitioner named “Rasheed” — who Shafi pretended to be after he met the couple — could help him overcome financial troubles through certain rituals.

The police are still investigating the extent of the couple’s financial troubles, if any.

Shafi then met the couple and struck up a friendship. He convinced them that human sacrifice was necessary for their wellbeing. Laila and Shafi, according to police sources, eventually entered into a sexual relationship.

Shafi lured the victims — Rosli, 49, and Padma, 52 — away from Kochi with the promise of money, and took them to Singh and Laila’s house in Elanthoor where they were murdered, and “sacrificed” and offered to Rasheed, the “divine” person who was to be satiated. His motive was “pure sexual perversion”, said the police.

“The accused have been telling us thousands of stories,” said C.H. Nagaraju, Commissioner of Police, Kochi City. “Unless we have evidence, we can’t corroborate it.”

The accused were remanded to judicial custody Wednesday morning, and were taken in police custody to collect evidence at their house Thursday. The mortal remains of the victims have been sent for postmortem and DNA testing at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam.

A special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to probe the case and find out whether there were any other victims.


Also read: From gaon to Golf Links — Modern India is still under the spell of black magic


‘Both victims had visited Shafi’s restaurant in Kochi’

The small, sleepy town of Elanthoor in Kerala used to be known for being the birthplace of Malayalam superstar Mohanlal — until the murders.

Now, all of Elanthoor is tuned into the crime, watching the investigation unfold with bated breath. The winding road to the crime scene is lined with cars. Curious onlookers loiter outside the “murder house”, swapping sordid details about the crime.

Locals have been dropping by at the crime scene ever since the arrests were made | Credit: Vandana Menon, ThePrint
Locals have been dropping by at the crime scene ever since the arrests were made | Credit: Vandana Menon, ThePrint

According to the police, Shafi is the mastermind behind the plot to murder Rosli and Padma.

Rosli went missing from Ernakulam’s Kalady in June. A missing case for Padma was registered on 27 September and it was this investigation that led the cops to Shafi and, ultimately, to Singh and Laila. Both Rosli and Padma had reportedly visited the restaurant Shafi ran in Kadavanthra, Kochi, and both “sold lottery tickets” at the railway station, among other odd jobs, said the police.

Manju Varghese, Rosli’s daughter, has given her DNA sample to the police. She initially complained to the police that her mother was missing in July, and registered a formal complaint in August. She learned about her mother’s murder from the media.

“She used to sell Ayurveda products. I don’t know where this news about her selling lottery tickets came from. I don’t know how she met Shafi. I don’t know anything. I have so many questions for the police — but they say the investigation is ongoing,” said Varghese to ThePrint.

Three months later, the trio committed the second murder. Padma’s body was dismembered and cut into “56 pieces” before being buried, according to sources close to the investigation. Her breasts were reportedly cut off and fried, as was her liver. A piece of her thigh was stored in the fridge for a few days, after which the killers decided to bury it. The remains were exhumed Tuesday.

Neighbours, locals shocked

Kerala is no stranger to black magic and bizarre crimes: there was the Thodupuzha case in 2018, the Kollam case in 2019, the Koodathayi serial murders in which all six members of a family died between 2002 and 2016, and the “exorcisms” and death of two young women in 2014.

But by all accounts, Singh and Laila seemed “normal”. According to their neighbours, Laila was quiet and kept to herself, but was always friendly. Singh was more of a community figure. With an unusual last name for a Malayali, Singh was well-known and his house was considered a landmark in the neighbourhood. An active member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he was also a poet and would post haikus on his Facebook page.

Neighbours are still processing the news and rumours are rife in the area, with many locals believing the gossip that Bhagaval Singh was being manipulated by Shafi and Laila.

Locals have been dropping by at the crime scene ever since the arrests. “I would never have imagined this happening, not in a dream, not even in a film,” said one such visitor.

Jose Thomas, the couple’s neighbour, said they first knew something fishy was going on when the police arrived at Singh’s house Sunday. The true extent of the crime only became clear to them when arrests were made on 11 October.

Thomas and his wife have opened their house to reporters, the police, and curious stragglers, serving them coffee and Tang.

They both say that they didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about their neighbours, and don’t remember any “odd sounds or smells”. It was only when the bodies were being exhumed that the stench hit them.

Tinku Varghese, another neighbour who runs a catering business, dropped by at Thomas’ house to appear in a live broadcast for local media. He said that people are apparently scared to order from him now because of how close he lives to Singh and Laila’s house.

“I don’t know why they are scared. I definitely won’t be serving liver fry,” Tinku said drily.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)


Also read: ‘Just for fun’ — Gujarat broker says didn’t actually use ‘kala jadu’ to spark stock market fall


 

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