Kerala human sacrifice case: High Court rejects accused's plea challenging police custody

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by the three accused in the human sacrifice case, challenging the order of a lower court that had granted police custody for 12 days.

The court agreed with the prosecution's stand that the accused cannot dictate the manner of investigation; moreover, the lower court had considered all relevant aspects before sending them to police custody.

On October 13, a lower court near here had sent the accused, Muhammed Shafi (alias Rashid), Bhagaval Singh, and Laila Bhagawal Singh, to 12 days of police custody.

Just a day prior, the same court had remanded them to 14 days of judicial custody.

The period of police custody will end on October 24. However, the High Court ordered that the lawyers for the accused be allowed to meet for 15 minutes every other day.

The plea of the accused was that the entire prosecution case was false and built on wrong information bolstered by inadmissible evidence that would not stand up to scrutiny.

The petitioners alleged that the police had been leaking information to the media even after the FIR was forwarded to the magistrate, thereby breaking rules of conduct and putting undue pressure on the trial court.

The news of human sacrifice came to light in the state when the dismembered bodies of two women were recovered early this month from the property of the accused couple, who run a siddha (traditional treatment) centre at their house in Pathanamthitta district.

It was an investigation into two missing women that led state police to a human sacrifice ring. The two women were lottery ticket sellers in Ernakulam and went missing in June and September this year.

The police allegations stated that Shafi had lured the women under the pretext of offering them lump sums in cash for doing sex work and acting in some porn films.

Shafi had allegedly contacted the Singhs on social media and a plan to commit human sacrifice, supposedly for financial prosperity, was hatched. The women were then taken to the Singhs' home, where they were allegedly murdered in a gruesome manner, dismembered, and buried in the house compound.

Meanwhile, on Friday, all the three accused were brought to the house as part of further evidence collection.

Published on: Friday, October 21, 2022, 05:13 PM IST