Necrophilia: Black magic and ‘eternal life’

2 arrested for exhuming, desecrating woman’s corpse.

VEHARI:

A father and son were arrested after they exhumed and desecrated the body of a woman on Wednesday night.

According to police officials, residents of the area protested against the incident which took place in the Pir Koray Shah graveyard Karampur on Friday. Karampur resident Abdul Qayum’s sixty-year-old wife Razia had been buried in the graveyard on September 22, unidentified people exhumed the body and allegedly desecrated the corpse before throwing the body back into the grave. On Thursday morning when people came to say prayers they saw the open grave. A large number of people gathered at the scene and asked local detective Salman to inquire into the matter. “I immediately suspected Ranjha and his accomplices because there had been similar reports about his family being involved in black magic,” he said.

Salman informed the local police that Government Girl’s School sweeper Ranjha Masih and his son Nasir Masih were involved in the incident and Station House Officer (SHO) Abdul Rasheed arrested the men. “They admitted to the crime and on Ranjha and his son’s information we have also taken in his nephew Nasir Masih. He said that they were performing a ritual and it could not be completed without ‘copulation with a corpse’,” the SHO said.

Abdul Qayyum said that he had buried his wife nearly three days ago. “Razia was 60 years old and she had died from a cardiac arrest. We went to offer prayers on Friday and found that the grave had been dug up and her coffin was empty,” he said. The villagers protested against the issue and police then launched an investigation.

A grave digger Omar told police that he knew nothing of the incident. “I left after the woman was buried and I know nothing of the grave being dug up,” he said.

Police officials said that Ranjha changed his story several times. “First he said he knew nothing but then he said that it was his neighbour Jalal and Bashir who practiced dark magic. On investigation we found that Bashir was his brother,” the SHO said. “I knew nothing. They just came to me and asked me if I knew of anyone who had died recently and I told them about the old woman. Then they asked me to point out the grave and I did. I had no idea what they planned to do,” Jalal Masih said.

Jalal told police that he took Nasir and his father Ranjha to the grave. “They began digging, exhumed the body and set the shroud on fire. Eventually when they were going to perform the ritual they sent me away to get cigarettes. I did nothing wrong,” Jalal said. “When I returned they were both on top of body and I ran from the place,” he said. Police officials have arrested Nasir and Ranjha and both men have acknowledged the crime.

“We needed a fresh corpse for the ritual. The black magic circle lasts for 41 days and after it is completed we will have powers beyond imagining. Everything we touch will turn to gold and we will live for ever,” Nashir told police officials. “The ritual grants immortality and Ranjha was also a part of it,” Nasir said.

SHO Abdul Rasheed said that the men had been arrested and cases had been registered against them. “Action will be taken against the men in accordance with the law. We have been raiding different locations in the district to catch more members of their circle. Such practices are vile and they need to be stopped,” he said.

Police officials said that two of Nasir’s partners, including Bashir had escaped and several police teams were searching for the accused. Qayyum and his family have protested against the incident and demanded that the accused be publicly flogged for their crimes. “By their own confessions, it is likely that Nasir and Ranjha have been involved in similar crimes before. They said that each member of the circle needed to complete the ritual several time to gain ‘power’,” the SHO said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2011.