Human sacrifice: Prime accused may have used his mortuary experience to cut women’s bodies,

Last week, three persons were arrested on charges of brutally killing two women in Elanthoor, Kerala

Kochi: The prime accused in Kerala’s sensational ritualistic human sacrifice of two women had worked as a helper at the post-mortem table around 20 years back.

Kochi city police commissioner C H Nagaraju told the media that key accused Muhammed Shafi had worked at the Perumbavoor government hospital in Ernakulam district as a helper in the mortuary. “We have a statement from the accused to that effect, but there is no documentary evidence as it had happened around 20 years back. He might have used this mortuary background to cut the bodies of the two women,’’ he said.

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Last week, Shafi, 52, along with traditional healer-cum-masseur Bhagaval Singh, 68, and his wife Laial, 59, were arrested on charges of brutally killing two women Rosli, 49, and Padmam, 52, as part of a ritualistic human sacrifice to bring prosperity to the couple. The women were killed on different days between June and September this year.

Police had found that the bodies of women were chopped into many pieces at the house of Singh at Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district as part of a ritual to appease Goddess. The body of Padmam was chopped into 56 pieces; looking at the method in which the bodies of the victims were chopped and separated into pieces, forensic surgeons had expressed doubts that only a person who is familiar with human anatomy can dissect the bodies in such a manner, they said. Subsequently, police probed into that aspect, leading to the disclosure of the key accused that he had worked as a helper at a mortuary.