Kerala Congress leader VM Sudheeran said it was the ninth time he found the objects

Kerala Congress leader VM Sudheeran has filed a police complaint against unknown people for allegedly trying to use "black magic" against him. He told the police today that he found some suspicious objects buried in his garden.The Congress leader said he felt sorry for the people who continue to believe in such superstition. Similar incidents have taken place in the past too, he told reporters, though this time he decided to inform the police."This is the ninth time this has happened. All the things that were recovered have been handed to police," Mr Sudheeran said.The objects that he found buried in the garden at his house include small copper plates sealed in a bottle.The practice of black magic or witchcraft was common in Kerala in earlier times. The belief was that if certain things are buried in somebody's house, they will fall on bad times.Last month, a 68-year-old man was lynched and his wife and pregnant daughter thrashed at a village in Meghalaya by a mob that accused them of practising witchcraft.Five people, including three brothers, were arrested for the attack that took place in the North Garo Hills district.The accused said the family of Poding Momin was responsible for black magic as one of their relatives had been unwell for a long time.Across India, incidents of people in villages getting thrashed or tortured over allegedly practising black magic have been reported frequently.In November last year, in a suspected case of human sacrifice , a 39-year-old man allegedly killed his teenage son and chopped off his genitals as well as parts of the head to "ward off evil spirits" on the advice of a witch doctor in Balodabazar district of Chhattisgarh.

Five months before that, a man with the help of a tantrik (occultist) allegedly sacrificed a seven-month-old baby in Jharkhand's Seraikela Kharsawan district to appease god, so that he and his wife could have a child, the police had said.