A day after horrendous details of an alleged human sacrifice incident in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district came to light, police on Wednesday gave the low-down, saying the prime accused, Muhammad Shafi, is a habitual offender with psychiatric disorder. A native of Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, Shafi is accused in at least 10 cases, including murder, rape and theft. In 2020, he was arrested for sexually assaulting an elderly woman and was out on bail.
Police claimed Shafi found pleasure in inflicting wounds on women, especially on their private parts. "Shafi would weave all kinds of stories to trap people so as to satisfy his perversion. He is the mastermind behind this entire episode. He has a habit of finding strangers who need him and keeping a distance from those close to him," Kochi City Commissioner C.H. Nagaraju told reporters.
In the latest incident, Shafi was arrested along with a couple—Bhagaval Singh and Laila—for the brutal murder of two women - both lottery ticket vendors - in Elanthur. Shafi is suspected to have lured and brought the women to the couple's house, where they were allegedly sacrificed by the accused.
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Rosly, a native of Kalady, was murdered in July while Padmam, who hails from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu and was staying at Kadavanthara in Kochi, was killed in September. Relatives of both the women had filed missing complaints with the police.
There was no sense of remorse in the accused, which was why they decided repeat the crime, police said.
"Though there are reports that the couple has engaged in cannibalism, there is no evidence to support the claim. It has been said they consumed human flesh after murdering Rosly. However, an investigation needs to be carried out to confirm it," police said.
Meanwhile, talking to a TV channel, Kochi Deputy Commissioner of Police Sashidharan said the possibility of more shocking details coming out in the case cannot be ruled out at this stage. “We would have many intuitions while hearing a case, and some of them would come true. Here, it came true,” he said.
A remand report filed by the police has revealed that Laila killed Rosly while Padmam was murdered by Shafi. Rosly was made to believe that she was acting in a porn film until she was smothered to death. Laila pierced her private parts with a sharp knife and chopped off her breasts.
Shafi murdered Padmam, pierced her private parts using a knife and cut her body into 56 pieces. The dismembered body parts were buried in the premises of the couple's house.
Police have recovered the chopped body parts of both the women.
"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 financial benefit of that couple," Nagaraju said on Tuesday.
On further interrogation, it was also found that this was not the lone case, but another woman was also allegedly sacrificed in the same house in June.
"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's role (in both these cases), but was also instrumental in getting this done. He convinced the couple that this should be done," he said.
