Eerie Encounters : The Kerala Human Sacrifice

All about the Accused

 Born in 1970 in Kerala, Muhammed Shafi a junior high school dropout, fled his house around the age of 16-17 years. He did a multitude of jobs and lived in almost all districts of the state. Apart from the jobs he did, this man used Facebook to scam people. He is also a habitual offender with almost 10 cases, including rape, theft and attempts to murder filed against him in the past decade. In every crime he did, he had a habit of developing relations with people and trapping them as his partners. He is also a sadomasochistic pervert who was primarily attracted to elderly women. According to the police, he had a habit of causing severe wounds on the genitals of his female victims.

Sexual Assault on a 75-year-old

 In August 2020 when he was working as a truck driver in a private firm in Ernakulam, Kerala, he established a strong romantic relationship with a 60-year-old woman and often visited her house. One day, when saw a 75-year-old woman pass in front of this woman’s house, he forcefully dragged her into the house of this other woman. He brutally raped this 75-year-old woman with the help of the woman he had a relationship with. As the woman lay unconscious from his assault, he took a kitchen knife and inflicted deep cuts on her genitals of this woman. Leaving the woman in her own pool of blood he fled the house.

 The 75-year-old was eventually admitted to a hospital where she was in the ICU for multiple days before becoming stable again. He was arrested by the police but he was bailed out in February 2021. However, what the police did not know was Shafi had been plotting a gruesome crime since 2019 and releasing him would turn out to be a really bad mistake.

A Honey Trap

 In early 2019, Shafi created a fake Facebook profile under the name of “Sri Devi” and used it to bait people with financial issues. Quickly, a respected man named Bhagval Singh fell into his honey trap. Bhagval Singh was an ayurvedic massage therapist who was highly revered by his neighbours. He was also a poet with a commendable fan following and an active member of Kerala’s ruling party with affluent political influence. After continuous persuasions, Shafi under the guise of “Sri Devi” finally convinced Bhagval to meet a black magic practitioner named Rasheed to ease him and his family of their financial issues and gain fortunes. After giving it a thought and discussing it with his wife Laila, Bhagval agreed to meet Rasheed who met them on their own doorstep.

 The man who appeared as Rasheed on their doorstep was none other than Shafi himself. Although he knew nothing about black magic, he told them that they had a curse upon them and that to gain wealth and prosperity, they had to sacrifice a human being. He gave them a few books that resonated with this ideology and persuaded them into saying yes. 

The First Human Sacrifice

 When the couple agreed, he approached a 49-year-old lottery ticket vendor named Rosly and baited her with a hefty sum. Shafi told Rosly that he was in search of an actress for his porn film and she would suit it perfectly. He took advantage of her poverty and lured her by offering 1 million INR. Rosly accepted his offer just for the money he offered.

 Once she agreed, Shafi gave her the address of Bhagval’s house and asked her to come there the next day. In the late June of 2022, Rosly would turn up at the house as requested and that would be the last time, she would be seen alive. When Rosly arrived, she was warmly greeted by Laila into the house. Later, they tied her to a cot after telling her it was a part of the scene. Once they tied her to the bed securely, adhering to Shafi’s instructions, Laila smashed her head, stabbed her genitals with a knife, and inserted the knife into her bleeding genitals. Once her genitals were hacked off, Laila slit her throat with the same knife. When Rosly was taking her final breaths, Bhagval severed the woman’s breasts and stored them. Some of her body parts were then taken out, cooked and consumed by the trio. They smeared her blood on the walls of the house, cut her remains into a dozen pieces and buried it in their backyard.

 A missing complaint was lodged by Rosly’s daughter but since the police could not find any traces, the case was put on hold.

The Second Human Sacrifice

 Despite doing everything Shafi told, Bhagval and Laila did not receive the financial prosperity he had promised. When they confronted Shafi, he told them that the curse was too powerful and it would take one more human sacrifice to break it. The couple who had already grown greedy by his influence agreed instantly to this insanity.

 As a second victim of his pseudo-blood ritual, Shafi approached another lottery ticket vendor named Padma who was 52 years old. He approached her as a pimp and told her one of his clients would give her 15,000 INR if she stayed with him for a day. Similar to his first victim, Padma was also poverty-ridden and accepted his offer just for the money. In the late August of 2022, she arrived at Bhagval’s house as requested and that would become the last time, she would be seen alive.

 She had to undergo the same things Rosly went through with one exception. Her genitals would be stabbed and severed by Shafi himself and she would be chopped into over 50 pieces before getting buried in their backyard. The couple thought that they were doing these absurd things for their prosperity but, Shafi made them do it for his sexual gratification.

Arrested by the Police

 Padma’s family lodged a missing complaint to the police. Unlike the first instance, the police were able to spot Padma with Shafi on CCTV footage. They were seen boarding an SUV. This footage, her call records and mobile location led the police to Shafi and eventually Bhagval and Laila were caught on 12 October 2022. This news shocked the couple’s neighbours as they were extremely friendly and polite. The police declared that the crimes were committed because of Shafi’s sexual perversions and the wounds in the genitals of the women resembled the wounds in the genitals of his previous female victims.

With the investigation still not complete, more mystery waits to be unfolded.