'Blacksmith's wife at work...': What Kerala's killer poet wrote in Facebook posts days after second 'human sacrifice'

Bhagwal Singh, a massage therapist, arrested along with his wife Laila and mastermind Muhammed Shafi in the sensational Kerala ‘human sacrifices’ case, was also known among the locals for his ‘Haiku’ poetry which he often posted on Facebook. 

For the unversed, ‘Haiku’ is a Japanese form of poetry in which 17 syllables are arranged in three lines containing five, seven and five syllables. 

Singh described himself as “self-employed in alternative medicine” and was also well-known in the local area as a social worker who was always “polite” to others. 

The traditional healer and poet posted last on Facebook on October 6, more than a week after the trio killed and mutilated Padma. He posted two cryptic poems in Malayalam. The last one read: "A furnace, blacksmith's wife at work, her body bent over."

In his Facebook bio, Bhagaval Singh has mentioned that he studied at Kerala University and St Thomas College, Kozhencherry. “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),” reads his own description. 

With the incident, possibly the worst ever of its kind in the country, coming to light, locals were shocked knowing about Singh’s involvement. 

“The couple was well educated, well to-do in our community. Nobody had a clue of this mindset. They did not seem to be the sort to stoop to such levels,” Usha, a neighbour, was quoted by NDTV as saying. 

Bhagaval Singh was linked to the CPM, but the party denied he was a member. Locals said he was active in party work in the area. 

Shafi used a fake Facebook profile with the name 'Sreedevi' to come in contact with Singh and his wife Laila. Soon, he convinced the couple to seek the help of an occult practitioner to gain wealth and propserity. He then started making regular visits to their residence. 

According to police sources quoted by News18, Shafi told the couple that he would need to have sexual intercourse with Laila in her husband’s presence as part of the ritual. The couple gave in to this as they were blinded by the promise of wealth and prosperity. Singh would reportedly witness Rasheed performing sexual acts on his wife “with folded hands”.

Shafi then told the couple to carry out a ‘human sacrifice’ to solve their financial problems. The three committed the first murder on June 8. Shafi approached Roslin at Kottayam district and lured her by offering Rs 10 lakhs for acting in a blue film. She agreed to it and went to the couple’s home. 

There, they tied her hands and legs to a cot and a cloth was inserted into the mouth and plastered it. When she was conscious, the accused woman Laila inserted knife into the vagina of the victim. Then she cuts her throat. Then the second accused Bhagaval Singh cut off the victim`s breast and kept it. And the three accused jointly cut her into pieces and buried in the pit.

Days later, Shafi told the two that the evil spell cast on them was so strong that they were unable to gain benefits after the first sacrifice. This then led to the killing of the other woman on September 26. He not only played the role of an agent in both the cases, but was also instrumental in getting the job done. 

"On 26-09-2022, Shafi approached 52-year-old Padma, who used to sell lottery tickets at Kochi. Shafi lured her by offering Rs 15,000 for sex work. Then she agreed and went with Shafi to the home of Bhagaval Singh and Laila at Pathanamthitta district. There, the accused strangled her with a plastic cord around her neck to make her unconscious. After that, Shafi inserted knife into the vagina of Padma and then he cuts her throat for killing. After that, they cut her into 56 pieces and put it into buckets and then buried in the pit," the remand report said.

News18 quoted sources familiar with the probe saying that the accused couple was told by the prime accused, Shafi, that eating cooked human body parts would help them preserve youth.

According to the remand report, one of the victim women was cut into 56 pieces by the accused in the ‘human sacrifice’ case.