Black magic horror in MP: Childless couple conduct 2 'human sacrifices'

In a chilling incident involving superstitious beliefs and intense desire for a child, two sex workers were killed within a span of a week by a childless man and the live-in partner of his sister in Morena and Gwalior districts of Madhya Pradesh.

The murders were committed as ‘human sacrifices’ at the behest of a self-styled baba (black magician), who promised the main accused that he and his wife would conceive a child if they sacrificed a human being.

The more chilling aspect of the case is that when the baba rejected the first murder as a sacrifice because the victim had consumed liquor prior to death, the accused went ahead to kill another woman after a week, police sources said.

The Gwalior Police cracked the harrowing case within 36 hours of finding the body of the second victim, Laxmi alias Arti Mishra, in the Hajira police station area on the morning of October 21.

They arrested five persons—Neeraj Parmar, a resident of Saraychhola in neighbouring Morena district; his live-in partner Meera Rajawat of Gwalior; Meera’s brother Betu Bhadoria and Betu’s wife Mamta also from Gwalior, and the self-styled baba, Girwar Yadav alias Sakhi Baba from Morena. The accused were arrested on Friday evening.

The crime turned more chilling when during interrogation on Saturday, the accused also confessed to killing another sex worker, Neeru alias Meenu, also from Gwalior, in Saraychhola of Morena on the intervening night of October 13 and 14, Gwalior superintendent of police Amit Sanghi told THE WEEK.

The body of Neeru had remained unidentified in Morena until the confession of the accused in Gwalior.

Sanghi said that the body of Laxmi, who was identified as a sex worker, was found near IIITM on Morena Road under Hajira police station area on the morning of October 21. On the basis of call details of the victim and CCTV footage, the police first zeroed in on Neeraj and Meera, who were seen carrying the body on motorcycle, Sanghi said.

The SP said that the accused confessed that the murders were planned and executed so that Betu and Mamta Bhadoria, who were childless after 17 years of their marriage, could conceive.

The accused confessed that when Betu discussed the desire for a child with Meera and failure of all measures towards the same, she roped in her live-in partner Neeraj to resolve the issue. Neeraj told the Bhadoria couple that he knew someone who would immediately solve their problem. Neeraj then introduced the couple to Girwar Yadav, who said that a life would have to be sacrificed for a life (child) to be conceived, police sources said.

It was then that Meera and Neeraj decided to murder a sex worker, so that no one would report the victim missing and the crime would remain unsolved. They first ‘booked’ Neeru, also from Gwalior, for Rs 10,000 and Neeraj and Betu took her to a deserted place, Saraychhola of Morena, on the ‘auspicious’ night of Durgashtami (October 13/14) and strangulated her. Mamta also accompanied them.

Girwar Yadav allegedly kept chanting mantras on video call when the murder occurred. But when they later showed the body to Yadav, he allegedly rejected the sacrifice as the victim had consumed liquor, police sources said. The accused then decided to conduct another ‘sacrifice’.

The next ‘auspicious date’ was decided as Sharad Poornima (October 20), and the accused then booked sex worker Laxmi Mishra and took her to the residence of the Bhadorias in Motijheel locality, where Neeraj and Betu strangulated her. Meera and Neeraj were taking the body to Morena to show it to the black magician when they had to abandon it as the motorcycle lost balance, causing the body to slip off near IIITM, police sources said.

The Gwalior Police have booked the accused for murder under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The Morena Police also have registered a case of murder over the killing of Neeru.

Sanghi told THE WEEK that the Morena Police will be arresting the accused after getting them on production warrant once the Gwalior Police, who now have the accused on remand, produce them again in court. The probe of two cases will continue separately but simultaneously, he said.