Kerala ‘human sacrifice’, a ‘brain eater’ and other horrors of ‘cannibalism’ in India

As the Kerala “human sacrifice” case unravels, chilling details of suspected cannibalism – eating of human flesh by humans – have emerged.

Two women were allegedly killed and their body parts were chopped as part of a “black magic” ritual in Elanthoor village of Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district. Roslyn, 49, and Padmam, 52, were promised money by Muhammad Shafi, the main accused in the murder case, who convinced them to act in a pornographic film. The victims were then supplied to a massage therapist and “healer” Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila. The three accused have now been arrested.

Also read: Explained: How an agent convinced Kerala medic couple to offer human sacrifice of two women

We take a look at what unfolded in the Kerala village and other cases of cannibalism that have rocked India.

Human sacrifice and cannibalism in Kerala

Bhagaval Singh and Laila killed the two women as a “sacrifice” as Shafi told them that this would end their financial woes and bring them prosperity. While one victim was reported missing in June, the other disappeared in September.

The case only gets more gruesome from here on.

Chopped body parts of the victims were exhumed from the Singh and Laila’s house on Tuesday. Their corpses were reportedly mutilated.

Padmam was strangled and beheaded; her body was cut into 56 pieces by Shafi, the police said. The remains were kept in a bucket, reports NDTV. Roslyn was strangled allegedly by Laila and her breasts were cut off. According to investigations, one of the women was tortured with a knife.

Sources said that the prime accused Shafi told the couple that eating cooked human body parts would help them preserve their youth.

Kochi city police commissioner CH Nagaraju said, “We have information that they (the accused persons) had consumed the flesh of the first victim Rosly. There is information, but we don’t have any evidence. Looking at the case, there is a chance for such an incident and we are looking into it.”

Investigations have revealed that Shafi contacted the women on social media and lured them to the couple’s house. He is “addicted to sexual perversion and delighted in cruelty”, Nagaraju said.

Sources privy to the probe said Laila seemed remorseless and still expects the “human sacrifice ritual” to make them wealthy soon.

The police were investigating the disappearance of Padmam when they discovered the killings.

Nithari killings and a self-proclaimed cannibal

A series of murders in 2005 and 2006 at a bungalow referred to as a “House of Horrors” in Nithari near Delhi sent shockwaves across the country.

Moninder Singh Pandher, the owner of the bungalow, and his house help Surinder Koli were accused in the case of serial kidnapping, murder, and rape. The matter came to light when two girls from Nithari village went missing and residents reported that their remains were in a municipal water tank behind the bungalow.

Koli, who was found guilty of killing several children and young women, said that his employer would bring prostitutes home and as he watched them and cooked meals for them, he was consumed by a powerful desire for sex and cutting up human bodies, according to a report in The Hindustan Times. As many as 19 girls were feared to have been raped and killed in the house where Koli worked.

He had confessed to having sex with his dead victims and also eating some of their body parts.

When the CBI filed a chargesheet in the case, Pandher was charged with indulging in prostitution, bribing police officials, and destruction of evidence of offences committed by Koli.

Koli was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court for murdering 14-year-old Rimpa Halder in 2005 at the bungalow. He was set to be hanged but in September 2014 the SC said that every death-row convict has the “fundamental right” to appeal in an open court against the death penalty.

In May 2022, a special CBI court in Ghaziabad awarded the death penalty to Koli. The judge also awarded seven years’ imprisonment to his employer Pandher in the case, besides a fine of Rs 62,000 on Koli and Rs 4,000 on Pandher.

The ‘king’ who killed 15

An alleged cannibal, Raja Kolander killed more than 15 people, but his previous crimes came to light after the murder of a journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. Born Ram Niranjan, he called himself Raja and is the subject of the Netflix docu-series Indian Predator.

A new terrifying case and an all new season of Indian Predator: Diary of a Serial Killer arrives 7th September