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Two women were killed in two separate ‘ritualistic human sacrifices’ over three months by three accused persons at Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district, The Hindu reported. The overnight interrogation of the accused — Shafi alias Rasheed, a resident of Perumbavur in Ernakulam, and a couple, Bhagaval Singh and Laila of Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta — by Kochi city police led to theexplosive revelation of the twin murders. Padmam, a lottery vendor from Ponnurunni in Ernakulam and Rosli, a resident of Kalady near Angamaly, were the ones suspected to have been brutally murdered as part of an occult for the alleged economic wellbeing of the couple. Both women had been missing leading to registration of cases by Kadavanthra police of Kochi city and Kalady police of Ernakulam Rural respectively. The accused were taken into custody in connection with the case registered by Kadavanthra police. It was during the interrogation that the accused confessed to have ‘sacrificed’ another woman in a similar manner months back, according to The Hindu. “While Padmam was murdered in the last week of September, the other woman was killed in June. All three accused were involved in the brutal murder of both women and their bodies were buried side-by-side within the property of the couple. Whether there was a racket engaged in such human sacrifices and whether more people were involved in these murders remain to be investigated. The accused had confessed to the crime and we have corroborated their statements,” said C.H. Nagaraju, District Police Chief (Kochi City).  

Two persons including an officer at the District Health Office, Jhapa have died due to dengue. The deceased have been identified as Shashi Kumar Bhattarai (57) of Bhadrapur Municipality-7 and Nisha Chhetri (52) of Birtamod Municipality-3. Bhattarai is the family planning officer at the District Health Office, Jhapa. He had gone to Kathmandu in the third week of August to get his wife Mitra Bhattarai's leg treated. Bhattarai was infected with dengue in Kathmandu. Health Office officer Bal Krishna Bhandari said that Bhattarai, who was receiving treatment at the HAMS Hospital, breathed his last during the course of treatment on Monday morning. He was suffering from diabetes and heart related problems for the past few years.

A trekker and a porter have died at the Dhaulagiri base camp. It has been learnt that 45 mules carrying goods have also gone missing due to bad weather. A local of Gharpojhong, Mustang said that two trekkers and a porter, who had gone to the base camp through the Four Season Company before Dashain, were found buried in the snow. Similarly, 45 horses and mules have gone missing at the Dhaulagiri base camp owing to bad weather. Out of nine shepherds who had reached the base camp, four were rescued by a helicopter on Tuesday morning, Chief District Officer of Mustang Netra Prasad Sharma said. He said that nine Nepalis are yet to be rescued from the Italian base camp. Hundreds of foreign and Nepali tourists had reached Dhaulagiri area through different trekking agencies before Dashain. Meanwhile, 30 foreign tourists, who were stranded in Thorang La Pass in Manang, came in contact on Monday. Tourism entrepreneur of Mustang Suraj Gurung said that all of them are safe. Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) General Secretary Binod Sapkota said that hundreds of tourists have gone to the western Himalayan region of Nepal and some of them are stranded and some have gone out of contact.