Bhagaval Singh, who is one of the three accused of torturing and killing two women and possibly eating their flesh in the name of 'human sacrifice' in Kerala, reportedly often posted poetry on Facebook. He also described himself as 'self-employed in alternative medicine'.
The 60-year-old was well-known in the town as a social worker who was always polite.
The traditional healer and poet, who is known to be 'mid-mannered' by friends and neighbours, allegedly played a part in the gruesome murders that shook the nation. The prime accused, Mohammad Shafi, described as a 'sadist' and 'sexual pervert' befriended Bhagaval Singh on social media to perform the 'human sacrifice' to end their financial difficulties.
NDTV quoted a neighbour of the couple as saying that Singhs were well educated and well to-do in the community. "Nobody had a clue of this mindset. They did not seem to be the sort to stoop to such levels," the neighbour said.
Bhagaval Singh was also linked to the CPM, however, the party denied he was a member. Locals have said that the was active in party work in the area.
Singh's Facebook page reportedly posted poetry under the label 'Haiku', a Japanese form of poetry in which 17 syllables are arranged in three lines containing five, seven, and five syllables.
More than a week after the trio killed Padma, who was seen walking into their house in CCTV footage, Singh posted two cryptic poems in Malayalam. The last one read, "A furnace, blacksmith's wife at work, her body bent over."
Singh's bio says that he studied at Kerala University and St Thomas College in Kozhencherry. His bio reads, "Self-employed in the field of alternative medicine and Marma system of therapy which is well spread and accepted by people. I plant and nourish various species of herbs of great medical value. Under the supervision of academic personnel we treat accident born complaints, various types of arthritis, paralysis, born setting and after cure (sic)."
He had more than 1,100 followers on the social networking site.
The three accused, who took part in the murder of the two women, were identified earlier this week.
The police have currently got custody of all three accused for 12 days for further interrogation and a thorough investigation. The court ordered judicial custody of the accused yesterday, however, the police filed a custody plea today, saying that detailed questioning is required to figure out if there are other victims.
Hearing the matter, the Kerala Court said the widespread use of internet and social media has also led to the spread of superstition and regressive beliefs.
In his order, Judicial Magistrate Eldos Mathew said, "Even (though) the spirit of our Constitution is to promote scientific temper, modern scientific tools like Facebook, mobile phones, and YouTube are being used for spreading our weird beliefs, superstitions, rituals, etc. In effect, when science and technology lead our society towards progress and development, such regressive acts backtrack the society."
