The Kerala High Court on Wednesday, January 4, dismissed the bail plea of the woman accused in the sensational human sacrifice case in which two women were allegedly killed in a brutal manner. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas rejected the plea for bail moved by Laila Bhagaval Singh, one of the three accused in the case, her lawyer said. Details of the order are not available at present. Besides her, the other two accused are Bhagaval Singh, her husband and also a traditional healer, along with a man named Mohammed Shafi.
According to the police remand report, the victims were not only killed, their bodies were mutilated and chopped into pieces. The chopped body parts of the deceased were exhumed from the premises of the couple's house at Elanthoor village in Pathanamthitta district on October 11, 2022. The first woman, Padmam, went missing on September 26 and the probe led to Shafi. On further interrogating him, police found that the trio had earlier murdered the second victim Rosily in a similar manner in June last year.
Both Rosily and Padmam sold lottery tickets to earn a living, police had said. According to the remand report, Rosily was persuaded by prime accused Shafi after promising Rs 10 lakh to act in an adultfilm and brought to the crime site. The report also said it was Laila who murdered her. Padmam, who went missing in September, was offered Rs 15,000 for sex work and lured to the couple's home by Shafi, according to the report.
While investigating Padmam's disappearance, police found Shafi's involvement which led them to the couple. Only thereafter did the police come to know about the murder of Rosily in June by the trio.