Two women are tortured and beheaded as part of ‘black magic human sacrifice ritual’ in India

Two women have been abducted, tortured and beheaded as part of a ‘black magic human sacrifice ritual’ in India.

Bhagaval Singh, a traditional healer who treated patients in his home, his wife Laila, and Mohammed Shafi, an ‘occult practitioner’, have been detained in Kerala after the horror killings that have shocked the country.

The two victims have been identified as Padmam, 57, and Rosili, 49.

Bhagaval Singh, a traditional healer who treated patients in his home, is accused of sacrificing two women in India with his wife Laila (right)

The remains of the women were found yesterday near Singh’s home in Pathanamthitta and the pair were allegedly murdered months apart from each other.

Police say they were ‘severely tortured’ and the accused have confessed and are in judicial custody.

The suspects allegedly lured the victims, who sold lottery tickets, by promising them money.

Shafi is said to have befriended the couple through social media after creating a fake profile, then encouraged them to carry out the sacrifice.

But instead, they beheaded them and chopped up their bodies, police said. 

DNA samples have been sent for testing because the women’s families were unable to identify their mutilated corpses. 

Cochin Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju said the killings took place over four months and were part of a ritual performed for ‘financial benefits’.

The remains of the women were found yesterday near Singh’s home in Pathanamthitta

He said the presumed motive was based on a ‘preliminary assumption’ and they are still investigating the causes.

He added: ‘We have already got the confessional statements of the couple and the agent. The women were killed by the couple in a very cruel manner. 

‘The couple had been facing a financial crisis and they decided to sacrifice the women to appease God and come out of the crisis.’

Black magic is still practised in parts of India supposedly to aid fertility, bring wealth, affect the weather and cure people of illnesses.

But Kerala is considered a more progressive state in India and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the killings were ‘beyond imagination’.

Padnam was reported missing by her son last month after she disappeared from her one-room dwelling in Kochi where she had been living since February.

Her sister Palaniamma visited the house after not hearing from her but found it locked and Padnam’s phone was also switched off.

Police traced it to Pathanamthitta and saw several phone calls had been made by Shafi, who had also been contacting Singh.

When Singh was questioned, he admitted to the crime, police said.

Rosili went missing on June 8 and her daughter Manju who works as a teacher filed a complaint with police who failed to find any leads.