Govt mulling law against black magic: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: The government has decided to bring in laws to deal with witchcraft and occult rituals, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday.
"The state government is considering to bringing in a legislation to deal with superstition and black magic. Superstition and black magic are being practised by dark forces to make society regressive. A recent example of that was the human sacrifice case in Elanthoor,'' he said while speaking at the inauguration of the Sivagiri Mutt pilgrimage conference on Saturday in Varkala.
The chief minister said by spreading awareness, Sree Narayana Guru fought against superstitious and occult practices to bring an end to them but dark forces are reviving them again.
Talking about the incident in which two women were murdered as part of a witchcraft ritual in Elanthoor, he said it indicated the extent to which superstitions can make people cruel and criminal-minded.
He said such practices should be opposed by everyone, but some media organizations advertise things like black magic for earning revenue without considering their impacts. Vijayan further said some dark forces were trying to turn around the progressive nature of society in Kerala to something regressive and backward, which has to be stopped.
In the human sacrifice case, three people -- Bhagaval Singh (68), a massage therapist, Laila (59), his wife, and Mohammed Shafi (52), their associate, were arrested after details of the double murder came out on October 11.
The women, who earned their livelihood selling lottery tickets, were killed to settle the financial issues of the couple and make them rich, according to the police.
The police had said Shafi had convinced the couple that human sacrifice would end their woes.
(With inputs from agencies)