Wife problems? These MP men mutilated a tigress for a black magic fix – 5 arrested

BHOPAL: In a case that has left Madhya Pradesh Forest officers scratching their heads, two men arrested for severing a tigress’s claws confessed they needed the body parts for a much stranger purpose than profit—controlling their wives. According to the suspects, a sorcerer promised them the secret to marital control through tiger claws.
“What a wild way to solve relationship problems! Many of us might be dealing with marital issues, but that doesn’t mean we’d go around severing claws from a dead tigress. This is just ridiculous,” said an investigating officer, who wished to remain anonymous.
The crime took place at Pench Tiger Reserve in Seoni district on April 26, 2025, when forest officers found the carcass of an adult tigress in the Purba Kurai Beat of the Rukhad Buffer Zone. While the tigress had died of natural causes, her body had been subjected to a post-mortem mutilation—her four paws were severed with axe, and three of her canine teeth had been removed.
Thanks to the informers’ tip-off and a special investigation team led by Rukhad Buffer Zone Officer Shubham Baronia, the suspects were tracked down and arrested. The mutilated claws, teeth, and hide were recovered from several locations where the men had hidden them.
According to Pench’s deputy director Rajnish Kumar Singh, the five suspects arrested for the crime are: Raj Kumar, son of Manne Lal Bhalavi, Jhaam Singh, son of Simat Lal Kumre, Chhabi Lal, son of Jhadu Lal Masram, Ratnesh, son of Vipat Lal Parte and Manish, son of Shiv Prasad Uike. Jhaam Singh was arrested from Telangana where he works as a labour.
The case took a strange twist when two of the five arrested suspects, Raj Kumar and Jhaam Singh, revealed their shocking reasons for mutilating the tigress.
According to their confessions, they were acting on the advice of a local tantrik (sorcerer), who claimed that tiger claws could be used to gain control over their wives. The men believed that the sorcerer’s promise of marital dominance through these claws was their answer to personal issues.
In the words of Raj Kumar, he was told that if he possessed tiger claws and performed specific rituals, he would gain the power to subdue his wife, who he described as "disobedient."
Officials claim that people in the region hold strong beliefs in occult practices, and there have been several incidents where tigers were poached for use in 'black magic.' However, the ‘wife control’ angle is a new and surprising twist to this troubling trend.
What truly helped solve the case were the local informers who had been fishing in the buffer zone along with Raj Kumar and Jhaam Singh on the day they first spotted the carcass. However, upon seeing another tiger sitting near the dead tigress, they decided to leave and return home.
The two men didn’t let the tiger’s presence deter them. On the second day, they returned to the site alone, this time severing the tigress’s claws and canines. But the story didn’t end there.
After consulting the same sorcerer, the men were told they would need a piece of the tigress’s hide to complete their ritual. So, on the third day, Raj Kumar and Jhaam Singh went back again, this time taking a piece of the skin.
The informers, who had witnessed the entire sequence of events, reported the details to forest officials, helping them crack the case and recover the mutilated tiger parts.
The suspects were produced before the Court on May 3, 2025, and have been placed under forest department remand for further questioning. Authorities are now investigating whether other individuals were involved in this bizarre practice and are also working to track down the sorcerer who instigated the crime.
While poaching and trafficking of tiger body parts for black market profit is well-documented, this case is the first time officers have encountered a poaching motive rooted in occult practices and marital control.
“This is a shocking case because it shows how deeply ingrained superstitions can push people to commit extreme acts, like mutilating a protected species,” said a senior forest official. “What started as a belief that tiger claws could give power over their wives landed them in jail,” said the officer.
The official also pointed out that the superstition of using tiger body parts for gaining wealth or power is prevalent in some rural parts of India. Jhaam Singh, who was arrested from Telangana, confessed that he believed the tiger claws would help him “rain money” so that he could return to MP and start own business.