Hyderabad:
Kerala “human sacrifice” case mastermind Mohammed Shafi posed as a woman on social media and befriended accused Bhagwal Singh. Police said that his account name was “Sridevi” where he used pictures of flowers as his DP. Police sources said that later, he assumed the form of a holy man and offered to perform pujas and rituals to rid the couple of misfortunes and lead them towards financial prosperity.
The police also said that there are indications that he had a physical relationship with Laila, the wife of Bhagwal Singh, which was passed on as part of the ritual. But this, an official said, has to be proved independently and they are looking for “evidence”. There are reports that the lawyer for the accused couple has ruled out any possibility of cannibalism – another angle that the police are exploring.
The trio are accused of being involved in the murder of two women, which the police came to know earlier this week.
Police say that both Laila Singh and Shafi sexually abused, tortured and killed one of the two victims. Police said Shafi is a psychopath and a pervert who takes pleasure in cruelty. Police said he had brainwashed the lions with promises of money after the human sacrifice.
Police gave the sequence of events in both murders during the court proceedings yesterday. The gruesome attacks on Roslyn and Padma took place three months apart – in June and September – but they were the same.
Sources said that the private parts of both the women were stabbed, their throats slit, the bodies were cut into pieces and they were buried. For Roslyn, the culprit was said to be Laila Singh. Shafi tortured and killed another woman, Padma. Sources said that Bhagwal Singh had cut off Roslyn’s breasts before burying the body. The sequence of events so far has mostly come from confessions. Police are also probing claims of cannibalism made by one of the accused.
Today the police have got the three accused in custody for 12 days for close interrogation and thorough investigation. The court had yesterday ordered the accused to be taken into judicial custody. But the police today filed a custody application, saying detailed questioning was needed to find out if there were other victims.
The court in Kerala, where the matter came up, observed that the widespread use of internet and social media has also spread superstition and regressive beliefs.
Referring to the human sacrifice case that shook the country, Judicial Magistrate Aldos Mathew said in his order, “(However) the spirit of our Constitution is to promote scientific temper, use of modern scientific tools like Facebook, mobile phones, YouTube etc. To spread our strange beliefs, superstitions, rituals etc. In fact, when science and technology take our society towards progress and development, such regressive acts make the society backwards.”