Kerala 'Human Sacrifice': Accused Ate Victims' Flesh

More shocking details have come to the fore in the murky case of ‘human sacrifice‘ from Kerala, in which two women were allegedly killed and their body parts were chopped as part of black magic in Elanthoor village of Pathanamthitta district. The two women were killed in two separate instances of ‘human sacrifice’ by the three accused.

Three people, including a couple, were arrested in this connection with the matter. The arrested persons were identified as Bhagaval Singh, a local massage therapist and a ‘traditional healer’, his wife Laila (59), both natives of Pathanamthitta; and Rasheed alias Muhammand Shafi, reportedly an ‘occult practitioner’ and is said to be the mastermind in the case.

The three accused were remanded to judicial custody till October 26 by the Ernakulam District Sessions court on Wednesday. An Indian news portal named News18 accessed the remand report copy of the case that was submitted before the court that mentioned it to be a case of “human sacrifice done in the name of superstition and black magic".

The two deceased, said to be around 50, had earned their daily bread selling lottery tickets on the streets, were sacrificed by the accused to settle the financial issues of the couple and bring prosperity in their life, police said. While one victim was reported missing in September, another went missing in June and it was only after the investigation into former’s case the police learnt of the ‘human sacrifice’ angle.

GRUESOME DETAILS OF THE CASE

The chopped body parts of the deceased were exhumed from the premises of the couple’s house at the village in Pathanamthitta on Tuesday. Sources familiar with the probe said that the accused couple was told by the prime accused, Shafi, that eating cooked human body parts would help them preserve youth.

Laila testified the gruesome details of the killing wherein the flesh of the victims was eaten after the ‘human sacrifice’ act as part of black magic. The flesh of one of the victim’s front rib had been cut off.

It was Shafi, the mastermind of the ‘human sacrifice’, who suggested to Bhagaval Singh and Laila that eating cooked human body parts would preserve youth, sources said. Shafi was out on bail in a rape case of a 75-year-old woman when he committed these crimes under the garb of ‘human sacrifice’.

The probe also found that Shafi “got high" on watching blood and the act of mutilation, sources said.

Sources privy to the probe said Laila seemed remorseless and still expects the ‘human sacrifice ritual’ to make them wealthy soon. Police, however, is yet to ascertain these details.

According to police, based on mobile phone details and tower locations of the victims, said to be in their 50s, the story of ‘human sacrifice’ was unravelled.

On September 26, a woman filed a complaint at the Kadavanthra police station, under the Kochi City police, reporting her sister missing. The victim hailed from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu but had been staying at Kadavanthara in Kochi for the last few months.

The other victim, a resident of Kalady who was living there with her partner for some time, reportedly went missing on June 8. A missing complaint was filed by her daughter on August 17.