Kerala Police on Tuesday arrested three persons, including one woman, suspected for luring and killing 2 women allegedly as human sacrifices in black magic rituals, Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju said.
The Police Commissioner said that the “human sacrifice ritual” happened in the Pathanamthitta district and the manner of killing is indescribable. The murders were brutal.
Roselin and Padma, who were from different parts of Ernakulam district, were killed by a couple who wanted to end their financial troubles and get rich, the police said. The couple and one more person, their agent, were arrested on Tuesday.
The victims Roselin and Padma, both in their early 50s, used to sell lottery tickets in Ernakulam. Police said Roselin disappeared in June and Padma in September.
Their throats were slit, and their bodies were chopped into pieces and buried in different locations in Thiruvalla, a town in Pathanamthitta district, the police added.
The alleged killers were Bhagavanth Singh, a massage therapist, and his wife Laila, said the police. They allegedly believed the murders would bring them a prosperous life. The third man who was arrested, Rasheed or Muhammand Shafi, allegedly helped them in the crime and also persuaded them to go through with it.
A case was registered by Kadavanthra police in Kochi following the report of a missing woman which was filed in September. The murders took place on 6 June and 26 September. The murders happened within 24 hours of the two women who went missing.
Elaborating this, the Police Commissioner said, “The main suspect Shafi lured the women to be sacrificed. His motive was money. It is being probed whether the accused had approached more women for the ‘human sacrifice ritual’.”
“We think that the couple Bhagaval Singh and Laila performed human sacrifice for economic prosperity,” the official said adding that CCTV footage was helpful in nabbing the accused.
Two dismembered bodies were found buried inside the premises of a house in Pathanamthitta district, the police said.
