The entire Kerala and even the country are yet to get relieved from the shock caused by the gruesome killing of two women after making them part of sorcery to attain prosperity for a couple named Bhagawal Singh and Laila at Elanthoor of Pathanamthitta district in Kerala.
Now more chilling details of the horrific double human sacrifice unearthed by the Kochi police are coming out as the probe intensifies with the arrest of the three accused.
Ernakulam City Commissioner C H Nagaraju on Wednesday revealed that Mohammed Shafi, the prime accused in the Elanthoor human sacrifices case, was a diabolic individual, a sadist who found pleasure in inflicting wounds on women, especially on their private parts. That means he is a sexual pervert and a hard core criminal.
"Shafi would create 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," said Nagaraju, who was speaking at a press conference the other day.
Mohammed Shafi, alias Rasheed was a habitual offender who has been apprehended in many cases, including murder.
Shafi, who has only received formal education till Class 6, created a fake Facebook account under the name 'Sridevi' and posted pictures of flowers as his profile image. Shafi, disguised as Sridevi, managed to lure the second accused Bhagval Singh into his trap and has maintained a relationship with him since 2018.
There are 10 cases pending against Shafi, who left home at the age of 16 and did all sorts of odd jobs across the state to survive.
He has a rape case registered against him by the Puthencruz police.
He was accused of raping a 75-year-old woman in 2020. He even reportedly inflicted injury on her private parts. He was at the time employed as a lorry driver.
“We registered the First Information Report on August 3, 2020 and filed the chargesheet on October 17. The trial in the case is pending,” said the police.
He was released on bail after spending four months in jail.
Assuming Sreedevi’s profile, Shafi told Bhagval Singh about a traditional healer and gave his own number. Shafi spoke highly about the healer and convinced Singh that he could bring him economic prosperity. Singh never suspected that the healer he was introduced to was actually the ‘woman’ he had met on social media. Impressed, the couple invited Shafi for the rituals that eventually led to the human sacrifices.
According to police, Shafi's intention was to take complete advantage of Bhagval's family. He managed, in just a year, to convince the couple of the need for human sacrifice for the rituals to attain prosperity and resolve financial issues.