Mohammed Shafi alias Rashid started chatting with Bhagaval Singh, a haiku poet and traditional healer living in Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district on Facebook a few months ago. According to the police, Rashid pretended to be a woman named Sreedevi. Within sometime, ‘Sreedevi’ convinced Bhagaval Singh that he should take the assistance of a tantrik from Perumbavoor in Ernakulam to become more prosperous. This conversation eventually led to the brutal murders of two women.
On October 11, a huge contingent of police descended on the house in which Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila lived. Just 50 metres from the house, the dead body of a woman was found. The dead body that was cut into pieces is suspected to be that of Padmam, a 52-year-old woman from Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri, who sold lotteries in Ernakulam and went missing on September 27. The police say that ‘Sreedevi’ introduced Bhagaval and Laila to Shafi, who told the couple that a human sacrifice would bring them prosperity. But Padmam was not the first victim, according to Shafi’s confession to the police.
It was in June 2022 that Shafi identified his first victim. Kochi Police Commissioner C Nagaraju told TNM that forty-nine-year-old Rosily, who sold lottery tickets in Kalady, went missing in June and was killed within 24 hours of her disappearance. Shafi offered her Rs 10 lakhs to be part of a video shoot and took her to Elanthoor. Three months later, in September, Padmam was kidnapped and murdered. Investigations based on CCTV footage and Padmam’s mobile location led the police to Shafi. A larger crime involving Singh and Laila was unearthed upon questioning Shafi, but it is still not clear how Padmam came into contact with Rashid or Bhagaval Singh.
Padmam lived in a ten-room house near Fathima Matha Church in Elamkulam in Kochi. Each room in the house, owned by Rijo Joseph from Elamkulam, was rented out to migrant labourers from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Rijo informed TNM that Padmam first rented the room for 3-4 months in 2021. Her husband used to stay with her then. She later returned to Tamil Nadu, saying she had to take care of a child. In February 2022, Padmam returned to Elamkulam and rented the room again. This time, Padmam came alone without her husband. Rijo said that she told him that her husband did not accompany her as he couldn't find employment there.
Rijo claimed that he rented rooms only to persons recommended by someone he knew in order to avoid any untoward incidents. Padmam had been similarly introduced to him by someone he knew. She had in turn, introduced two other families to Rijo, and they were taken as tenants. “Padmam was very helpful towards the other residents. She never defaulted on rent payment. If someone couldn't afford to pay a month’s rent, she would help them. Once, a family she brought in couldn’t afford to pay the deposit amount. It was Padmam who paid on their behalf,” Rijo said. Even when other residents created any sort of issue, Padmam would intervene and resolve it, according to Rijo. The police have not contacted him till date, he claimed.
Ramana, an Andhra Pradesh-native and another tenant, said that Padmam lived a secluded life. “She was a pious woman and would perform puja in her room every morning. She did not talk much to any of us and stayed in touch with only one other resident who hailed from Dharmapuri. When the latter couldn’t afford to pay one month’s rent, she stepped in and paid for them,” Ramana said. He further added, “Three days after she went missing, the police came to the house and searched Padma’s room. We heard that an amount of Rs 54,000 was found, which was given to her relatives.” Both Ramana and another resident Nagaraj said that they had moved in only two months earlier and were not closely acquainted with Padmam. They came to know of her death when mediapersons visited the house on Tuesday, Ramana said.