`Kerala human sacrifice case accused possibly ATE victims` body parts,` says Kochi police

The Ernakulam magistrate court on Wednesday remanded all the three accused of killing two women allegedly as a `human sacrifice` in `black magic rituals` in Kerala`s Pathanamthitta in judicial custody. The accused will be under judicial remand for a 14-day duration which will end on October 26. The accused were produced in the Ernakulam District Session Court today.

Ernakulam: Kochi police on Wednesday claimed that the accused in Kerala’s black magic case possibly ate parts of the body after killing the victims. The Kochi police chief, while addressing a press briefing, said that all angles in the case are being investigated and but nothing is confirmed yet, adding that the prime accused Shafi is a pervert.

“There's a possibility that the accused ate parts of the body after killing the victims. It is being investigated, but not confirmed yet. Prime accused Shafi is a pervert. We're investigating whether there are more accused and if more such cases happened,” Kochi City Police Commissioner said.

He added that the police have recovered all parts of the bodies of the two women who were killed. Parts of the body of one of the victim women were recovered from three pits where they were buried.

Meanwhile, the Ernakulam magistrate court on Wednesday remanded all the three accused of killing two women allegedly as a human sacrifice in “black magic rituals” in Kerala`s Pathanamthitta on judicial custody. The accused will be under judicial remand for a 14-day duration which will end on October 26. The accused were produced in the Ernakulam District Session Court today.

The issue came to the fore on Tuesday as three persons, including one woman, was suspected of luring and killing the woman allegedly as a “human sacrifice” in black magic rituals, according to City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju.

"Two dismembered bodies have been found buried inside the premises of a house in the Pathanamthitta district within 24 hours after they went missing," the police said. "The murders were brutal; the women were killed within 24 hours after missing. The manner of killing is indescribable," Nagaraju said earlier. 

According to the official, the murders took place on June 6 and September 26. Kadavanthra police registered the case in Kochi following the report of a missing woman which was filed in September.

The arrested persons were identified as one Shafi, and the husband-wife pair of Bhagaval Singh and Laila. "The main suspect is Shafi who brought the women. His aim was money. It is being investigated whether the accused Shafi approached more women for a `human sacrifice ritual`," Nagaraju said.

"The CCTV footage was helpful in nabbing the accused," he added. Union minister V Muraleedharan on Tuesday hit out at the Kerala government alleging a "delayed response" by the state police and said that a member of the CPIM was involved in the incident.

"The delayed response of the Kerala Police smells foul & exposes that women are not secure in Kerala Is @pinarayivijayan Govt delaying it deliberately because of the involvement of a @CPIMKerala member Disgusting that @CMOKerala remains mum when two women are brutally killed," the minister tweeted.