- Roslyn who used to sell lottery tickets to make a living had gone missing from Kaladi, in Ernakulam district in June.
- Padma the second victim, who was also a lottery seller went missing on September 26.
- According to the police, the two women were “sacrificed” by one Bhagaval Singh, a traditional medicine practitioner, and his wife Laila who were facing financial difficulties
In a shocking incident, at least two women who were reported as missing by their relatives have been killed in a suspected human sacrifice.
The two women, Padma and Roslyn, both in their 50s, were separately lured by an agent to be “sacrificed” by a couple.
Two women were killed three months apart
Roslyn who used to sell lottery tickets to make a living had gone missing from Kaladi, in Ernakulam district in June.
Padma the second victim, who was also a lottery seller went missing on September 26.
The investigation into Padma’s case led the Police to a couple in Elanthoor, Pathanamthitta.
Human sacrifice to overcome financial troubles
According to the police, the two women were “sacrificed” by one Bhagaval Singh, a traditional medicine practitioner, and his wife Laila who were facing financial difficulties to bring prosperity in life.
The couple and an agent, identified as Rasheed alias Muhammand Shafi who is suspected to have brought the women to the house where the sacrifice has been arrested.
According to the police, Singh had contacted Shafi responding to his Facebook post offering a black magic solution to overcome financial troubles.
Shafi, who made the Facebook post using a fake ID in the name of ‘Sreedevi’ convinced the couple that a human sacrifice was the solution to their problems and offered help to carry it out.
He then lured the two victims whom he met on the street offering them money and took them to the house of the accused.
Police said the women were tied up and their throats were slit. The women died of bleeding and their bodies were chopped into pieces and buried near the house.
Phone calls of the victim led to the arrest
The case was cracked after mobile call tower locations and the calls made by the missing women were traced to Shihab.
“During our investigation regarding the missing woman from Kadavanthara, we came to know that she was killed in that couple’s house in Thiruvalla and her body was buried after being cut into pieces there. It was a human sacrifice for the financial benefit of that couple,” Kochi City Police Commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam said.
On further interrogation, it was also found that this was not the lone case but another woman was also “sacrificed” similarly in the same house in June.
Police looking into more such crimes
“It was also at the same house…by the same couple…and the woman was brought by the same person. The third person had not only played an agent role but was also instrumental in getting this done. He convinced the couple that this should be done,” he said.
During the interrogation, the couple admitted to killing the two women and their remains have also been recovered from their property.
Police are also looking into if the third accused has committed more such acts.
