Conviction Hindu and Hindu-derived contexts Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India · 2010

Bhilai human-sacrifice murder: Supreme Court confirmed convictions and death sentences

Request a correction or reply

Disposition and response

Material that narrows or disputes the record

Appellate history

The Supreme Court's 2019 judgment narrowed the convictions to murder with common intention and destruction of evidence for the two main defendants, confirmed their death sentences, and overturned the convictions of four other appellants. The record does not assign culpability to those acquitted appellants.

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

self-described tantrik, Gurumata, spiritual leaders with disciples

Organization

No organization assigned

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

The Supreme Court found that Yadav and Bai believed in tantrism, that Bai was called Gurumata and sought siddhi, and that she directed her husband and disciples to obtain a child for sacrifice to propitiate a deity. The Court held that the two main defendants committed the murder as a sacrifice and that the evidence proved their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Violent occult ideology or sacrifice
Ritual, oath, or initiation
Guru or spiritual-teacher authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2014-03-27 · murder convictions and capital sentences

Sessions Judge, Durg, Sessions Trial No. 61 of 2011. The trial court convicted Ishwari Lal Yadav, Kiran Bai and additional defendants of kidnapping, murder, conspiracy and destroying evidence. It imposed death sentences for murder.
2016-12-01 · capital reference and appeals

High Court of Chhattisgarh, Criminal Reference No. 1 of 2014 and Criminal Appeal No. 511 of 2014. The High Court confirmed the murder convictions and death sentences of Yadav and Bai and changed the other defendants' sentences to life without remission or parole.
2019-10-03 · final merits appeal

Supreme Court of India, Criminal Appeal Nos. 1416-1419 of 2017 and connected appeals. The Supreme Court confirmed Yadav's and Bai's convictions for murder with common intention and destroying evidence, and confirmed their death sentences. It set aside their kidnapping and conspiracy convictions and acquitted the four other appellants whose evidence it found insufficient.

Documented coercion mechanisms

promise of siddhi
human sacrifice to propitiate a deity
direction of disciples
ritual authority

Cited record

Sources

supreme court judgment final conviction and nexus finding Supreme Court of India, Ishwari Lal Yadav v. State of Chhattisgarh, Criminal Appeal Nos. 1416-1417 of 2017 and connected appeals, judgment (Oct. 3, 2019).: The official judgment records the Gurumata and tantrik claims, the stated pursuit of siddhi, the sacrifice finding, the trial and High Court dispositions, the evidence review, the two confirmed murder convictions and death sentences, and the acquittals of four other appellants.

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.

Source and tier basis: https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2017/7636/7636_2017_5_1502_17418_Judgement_03-Oct-2019.pdf Corpus classification: supreme-court-judgment; evidentiary role: final-conviction-and-nexus-finding. SHA-256 d9d29ecde6bd4c99c40446500e0327d09e3327c3c127046b4735b6feaf3847d3
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

Named in this record? Request a correction, report a changed disposition, or submit a response.

Related record

Related cases · Hindu and Hindu-derived contexts

Browse all 28 Hindu and Hindu-derived contexts records

← Explore all cases