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Kerala CM: Law against black magic, other practices soon
Addressing a function in Alappuzha, Vijayan said in the wake of some of the shocking incidents there was a demand for a stringent law to curb blind beliefs and customs and the government will bring it soon. He said the government will talk to all religious and community heads in this regard and create a consensus.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said a law to check superstitions and archaic practices in the state will be brought soon after two alleged human sacrifice cases in Pathanamthitta in a span of three months.
Addressing a function in Alappuzha, Vijayan said in the wake of some of the shocking incidents there was a demand for a stringent law to curb blind beliefs and customs and the government will bring it soon. He said the government will talk to all religious and community heads in this regard and create a consensus.
“Faith in a particular religion or belief is OK. But some people are deviating from it to promote superstitions and inhuman practices. Such a tendency should be curbed at any cost,” he said adding people should also guard against such evil practices. The CM said law reforms committee headed by Justice (retd) K T Thomas had submitted a draft and discussion will start soon to make it an effective legislation.
Shafi (52) and a therapist couple — Bhagaval Singh (68) and his wife Laila (59) — were arrested from the district on October 11 in connection with the murder of two women at Elanthoor village in the district as part of “ritualistic human sacrifice for financial prosperity”, police have said.
The shocking tale of murder of two poor women and alleged ritual sacrifice surfaced last week after police arrested a hardened criminal Mohammad Shafi and a couple Bhagwal Singh and Lailia and later retrieved remains of victims, Roselin and Padma, both in their early fifties. Meanwhile the special investigation team retrieved 40 gms of gold taken from the body of second victim Padma which was mortgaged with a pawn broker in Erankulam by main accused Shafi.
“We will collect scientific evidences to build up a strong case and corroborate the heinous crime. Shafi is a trained criminal and we will go deep into his criminal past. We will also examine how he dodged law, though he spent some time in jail in connection with a rape,” said Kochi police commissioner C H Nagaraju.
