Kerala ‘human sacrifice’ case: Court sends 3 accused sent to 12-day police custody

Kochi, October 13: Three persons, arrested in Kerala for allegedly murdering two women in a suspected case of human sacrifice, were on Thursday sent to 12-days police custody. Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court sent the accused - Bhagaval Singh, his wife Laila, and Muhammed Shafi to police custody till October 24. On Tuesday Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju confirmed that the three were arrested on Tuesday. Also Read: NGT directs Delhi govt to pay Rs 900 cr as relief compensation On Wednesday the three accused were sent to judicial custody for three weeks As per the police remand report, the husband-wife pair of Bhagaval Singh and Laila conspired with the "prime accused" Muhammed Shafi to commit the crimes. The police remand report of the accused mentions the shocking "human sacrifices" were suspected to have been committed as part of a ritual to obtain financial benefits. The remains of the two deceased women-identified as Padma and Roslin- were exhumed on Tuesday from pits near the residence of Singh and Laila in the Pathanamthitta district. According to police the accused allegedly lured the victims with the promise of money. The remand report stated that the accused allegedly chopped up the bodies of the victims before burying them. On September 26, Shafi approached 52-year-old Padma, who used to sell lottery tickets at Kochi and lured her by offering Rs 15,000 for sex work, the police remand report read. "Then she agreed and went with Shafi to the home of Bhagaval Singh and Laila in the Pathanamthitta district. There, the accused strangled her with a plastic cord around her neck to make her unconscious. After that, Shafi mutilated Padma's private parts using a knife and slit her throat. After that, they chopped her into 56 pieces and put the mutilated body parts into buckets and buried them in a pit," the report detailed. Also Read: 700 incidents of stubble burning reported in Punjab, says Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal Police said that it is investigating the possibility of cannibalism that the accused possibly ate the flesh of the victims. Kochi Police Commissioner CH Nagraju addressing a press conference told reporters that Shafi, the main accused, was a pervert and has a criminal past. -PTC News with ANI inputs