Thiruvananthapuram: The case of suspected human sacrifice, where two women were found murdered and buried by a couple in Thiruvalla in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, has now turned political with the Congress and the BJP demanding a proper probe as the prime accused allegedly has close links with the ruling CPI-M.
The couple, identified as Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila, used to run a massage center near Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district at their house.
Kochi Police Commissioner C.H. Nagaraju said that the two women were killed and buried by the couple.
“This was done as part of a ritualistic human sacrifice. The couple was taken into custody on the statement of Shihab and all three are now being taken to the house of the couple. The man is a ‘vadiyar’ (traditional physician) and this is a very complicated case and there are several layers in the case.”
“The body of the woman who disappeared last month will be exhumed and will be sent to forensic experts. The motive of the crime has been confessed as human sacrifice and we confirmed it from the statement given by the couple which was done for financial betterment,” said Nagaraju.
State Congress president K. Sudhakaran said the revelations that are coming out have sent shockwaves across the state and what is even more alarming is this has been done by a local CPI-M leader (Singh).
“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will go down as the worst Home Minister of the state. There are around 67,000 man-missing cases that have been registered in the state and one wonders if there were similar such episodes that would have taken place. For the CPI-M, similar cold-blooded murders are nothing new but what’s baffling is the human sacrifice which was in vogue centuries ago, appears to have made a comeback through the CPI-M is scary,” he alleged.
“The CPI-M always comes to the rescue of its cadres who engage in such acts and the need of the hour is to form a special team to probe all the man-missing cases that have been registered,” he added.
Minister of State for External Affairs and BJP leader V.Muraleedharan took to social media and said a heinous crime in the name of black magic.
“Is this the Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan boasting of No 1? Shame! This incident is a black spot in the reformed Kerala society. Such practices are condemnable and perpetrators must be brought to justice immediately,” he tweeted.
State BJP President K.Surendran said this is a shocking episode and the role of a CPI-M member in this is even alarming.
“The need of the hour is a proper probe as the role of a CPI-M worker has now surfaced and this incident has forced Kerala to hang its head in shame. The CPI-M owes a reply,” he said.
On the other hand, CPI-M Politburo member M.A. Baby said the said person presently has no role in the CPI-M as he was a party follower some time back.
According to reports that have emerged, Shihab alias Mohammed Shafi has been identified as the mastermind behind the murders of the two women.
He first created a fake social media account in the name of Sreedevi and became friendly with the couple, Bhagaval and Laila.
He convinced the couple that there is a person named Rashid, who has superpowers and if they please him, they will flourish financially.
Later, Shihab, for the first time, met the couple, identifying himself as Rashid, and they become friendly. The idea of a human sacrifice was discussed for which he and Laila should have sex in front of Singh.
Shihab says he will come back with a woman for the human sacrifice and in August arrived with a woman, who has now been identified as Rosalyn.
Later, he came with Rosalyn to the couple’s house under the pretext that she will be paid Rs 10 lakh if she acts in a soft porn film.
Rosalyn was then asked to lie on a bed and as part of the film shooting, the accused trio tied her up on the bed. Soon, Singh came with a hammer and smashed her head.
Singh’s wife Laila using a sword slashed Rosalyn’s neck and used a knife to stab her private parts and that blood was sprayed around the house.
Later, Rosalyn’s body was buried in the couple’s house.
The couple found that despite engaging in human sacrifice, there was no change in their financial or economic status and called up Shihab.
Shihab said some bad omen has fallen upon the couple. Therefore, to come out of it, one more human sacrifice has to be conducted and soon he will bring another woman.
As planned, Shihab brought another woman, who was identified as Padmam from Tamil Nadu after which the human sacrifice was conducted.
Earlier, the Ernakulam police started a probe after a 50-year-old woman went missing on September 27.
After tracing the mobile call tower to Thiruvalla, the police found that the missing woman was in touch with Shihab.
Before September 27, another woman, also in her 50s, went missing from the same area at Ernakulam. In this case, too the mobile call tower locations and the calls made by the missing woman were traced to Shihab.
The police first took Shihab into custody and then the alleged accused couple was also questioned.
The investigating team is now trying to recover the bodies of the two missing women and the exhumation process is presently on at the house of the couple.
While the remains of one body that were buried have now been recovered from the house of the couple, the police have now started to dig to recover the second body.
Meanwhile, Singh who was a popular figure on the social media and had numerous friends after the news surfaced saw his friends running for cover.
As the news came out, the locals and the couple’s neighbors were shocked.
“I have known him (Singh) for the past 50 years and none doubted his work as a lot of people used to come to the couple’s house for a massage. None had any doubt about this man. It was yesterday I saw a police vehicle in front of their home. After some time, the couple was taken away in the police vehicle,” said a local.
Chief Minister Vijayan, currently on a trip to London, termed the incident “shocking”.
“Only those with a sick mindset and conscience can engage in such things and is a challenge for modern society. Such misconception and superstitions should be shunned and the society at large should be wary of all these and each one should come to the front to fight this evil,” he said, as per a statement issued by his office.
