"Human sacrifice beyond shocking; is this Kerala now?" asks High Court

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday expressed shock and disbelief at the news of human sacrifice that came to light in the State when the dismembered bodies of two women were recovered.."The fact that we are hearing about human sacrifice in Kerala is beyond shocking", Justice Devan Ramachandran remarked.The judge was referring to the news of an investigation into two missing women leading State police to a human sacrifice ring. The two women were lottery ticket sellers in Ernakulam and they went missing in June and September this year. Neither women had families in Kerala. This morning, reports surfaced that three persons were apprehended for the alleged murder of the women, believed to have been committed as part of an act of human sacrifice. The Police arrested one Rashid for allegedly for arranging the abduction and committing the sacrificial murder. A couple, Bhagaval Singh and Laila, from Pathanamthitta district were also taken into custody for suspicion of having commissioned and taken part in the sacrifice. .It is in the course of banter between the Bar and the Bench in the afternoon that Justice Ramachandran remarked on the incident."Some of the things happening here are beyond the limits of absurdity. Today it is human sacrifice. I wonder where Kerala is going. I went to the chambers for lunchtime and I heard about this human sacrifice case. Is this Kerala now?", he orally remarked.The judge expressed his shock that such an incident could have taken place in a state like Kerala in this day and age."In the path to becoming more modern, we are getting distracted somewhere. People are behaving in strange ways now. The new generations will be growing up seeing all this. In my 54 years, I have not heard something like this," he observed. .A few members of the Bar suggested that what may be forgotten in the quest for modernity, may be a sense of social responsibility, in courts, schools and elsewhere. The judge simply nodded and moved on to the next case.