Kerala couple kills two women, eats human flesh to bring prosperity

There's a fine line between faith and spirituality and superstition. In India, when the line is crossed too far, it ends in blood and gore, all in the name of God.

Two women in their 50s in Kerala were lured in the name of an acting job and were brutally murdered for a ritual. The women were 'sacrificed' for black magic to bring prosperity to a couple. Not just that, their bodies were cut into several pieces and part of it was also consumed by the couple. 

How did things get here? This is the chilling story of blind faith and a quick fix to life's problems that ignored all reason and blindly believed an online stranger: 

A small village in Kerala, Elanthoor, woke to unfathomable horrors on October 12. Severed body parts of a woman were found buried on the premises of the village's local massage therapist. The woman was one of the two victims killed. 

Warning: The details are grisly

• Elanthoor's local massage therapist, Bhagaval Singh, and his second wife Laila, were just ordinary residents. Singh came from a family of massage therapists and was locally popular. Neighbours described them as cordial. Singh was also well-known on some Facebook communities where he penned Haiku poems.  
• Bhagaval Singh and Laila were facing some financial issues. This is when a certain 'Sridevi' approached Singh on Facebook, claiming to know a black magic practitioner who could help Singh get rid of his troubles. 
• 'Sridevi' and the black magic practitioner were both the same, Mohammed Shafi, the accused No 3 of this case. A habitual offender with another murder charge to his name, Shafi convinced Singh of inexplicable things for large sums of money to get rid of all his problems and ensure prosperity.

• Shafi first claimed he had to have sexual intercourse with Laila in front of Singh for their troubles to go away. 
• Then, he suggested another 'fix' - a human sacrifice - which would definitely ensure him prosperity. Singh agreed. 
• In June, Shafi lured lottery ticket vendor Roslyn with an offer to act in a movie and Rs 10 lakh. 
• Shafi killed Roslyn the same day in a black magic ritual. 
• When Bhagaval Singh's problems did not go away, he complained to Shafi. Shafi told them that Roslyn's sacrifice removed the curses on their family and they will need another human sacrifice to bring prosperity. 
• Singh again fell for the promises. Shafi lured Padma, another lottery ticket vendor, with the same movie promise.  
• Shafi killed Padma in another ritual that reportedly lasted all night. Details of it are brutal and involve torture.

• In the second case, Shafi also convinced the couple to eat the flesh of the victim to preserve their youth. 
• The police intensified the search for Padma after her relatives filed a missing person complaint. 
• That's when the police through a vehicle used to lure the women, their regular visits to Shafi's restaurant, CCTV footage and their last phone location, found the remains of the women.

Who is Shafi? Shafi reportedly has a criminal history, including a murder and a rape of a 75-year-old woman. Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju called Shafi, a sadistic psychopath who seeks pleasure in hurting others. He also said that Shafi is a sexual pervert. 

• In this case, Shafi inflicted torture on his two victims by inserting knives in the private parts and cutting off breasts. 

There is no dearth of psychopaths in India who have done things to shock generations to come. While Shafi manipulated his victims, sexually assaulted them, and mutilated his victims become murdering them, another infamous psychopath, Raja Kolander, an alleged cannibal killed over 15 people and even consumed the flesh of some of his victims. 

Raja Kolander's grisly crimes are explored in detail in Netflix's documentary Indian Predator: Diary of a Serial Killer.

[Read more about the true story of Kolander here.]

Superstition in India: The Kerala human sacrifice case has shaken the state, with calls growing stronger for the state government to implement an anti-superstition law. Though shocking, this case is among several other similar instances of murders and other crimes taking place in the name of faith.

Such incidents are not limited to certain groups of people or places; from the educated to the illiterate in rural and urban India alike falling for black magic. Last year, a well-to-do couple, a professor and a math gold medalist, living a peaceful life in Andhra Pradesh, bludgeoned their two daughters to death believing they could be resurrected. 

• In Chattisgarh this year, a 17-year-old boy along with his relatives, killed his parents at the behest of an agent believing their sacrifice would cure his elder brother of mental illness. 
• A Nagpur couple beat their 5-year-old girl to death believing she was possessed. 
• A Bihar father killed his 7-year-old son to learn black magic spells. 
• Then there is the famous case of the Burari family deaths in Delhi, where family members killed themselves together believing they would come back to life. 

The list is endless and bizarre. A woman was recently forced to bath naked in public in Maharashtra to be able to bear a male child. People are ready to kill others on suspicion of black magic, for black magic rituals, rape and harass others, and more.  

India doesn't have a central law against superstition and black magic. But states have drafted their own laws. But evidently, they are not enough to curb such practices that take place openly.

The line between faith and blind faith is pretty blurry. Sometimes it starts with harmless astrology and seeking advice, and tarot cards and sometimes it ends in listening blindly to godmen and agents promising to give unimaginable results.