Mehrauli murder Aftab Amin Poonawala and his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar. Twitter
New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women, or DCW, has sought details of the man who allegedly killed his live-in partner – Shraddha Walkar – and chopped her body into 35 pieces. In a notice to Delhi Police, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal asked the Station House Officer (SHO) Mehrauli Police Station, for details if the accused was operating along or received help from other people.
Mehrauli murder: DCW issues notice to Delhi Police
In a notice to the SHO, Mehrauli Police Station, DCW said, “The Delhi Commission for Women has taken suo-moto cognizance on media reports of the gruesome murder of a girl in Mehrauli area of Delhi… This is a very serious matter.”
The DCW chairperson has sought a copy of FIR registered in the case, details of the accused persons involved in the matter specifying whether the male partner of the girl was operating alone or did he have the help of some other persons as well?
“Did Delhi Police receive any missing complaint for the girl in the past six months? If yes, please provide a copy of the complaint along with the action taken thereon,” DCW asked the police in its notice.
The women commission also asked whether the deceased girl gave any complaint regarding harassment/ domestic violence/ sexual abuse/ any other crime being perpetrated against her by the accused person. “If yes, please provide a copy of the complaint and action taken on the same till date,” DCW notice read.
The DCW has given Delhi Police time till Friday, 18 November, to submit the details to them.
DCW calls for stringent punishment
Calling for stringent punishment to the accused, Maliwal in a tweet in Hindi said, “In a heart wrenching incident in Delhi, a woman was killed by her boyfriend, who cut her body into 35 pieces and kept them in a fridge. He dumped the body parts in various parts of the city. What kind of cruel people are there in the society. Police have arrested the accused and the cruel man should be given strict punishment.”
Delhi murder case: Who is the accused?
The accused, identified as 28-year-old Aftab Amin Poonawala, strangled his live-in partner and chopped her body into over 35 pieces. He kept them in a fridge for almost three weeks after which he dumped them across the national capital over several days, police said.
Details of the killing and its grisly aftermath came to fore almost six months later with the arrest of Poonawala, police said.
Some chopped body parts of the woman have been found and police are looking for the murder weapon.
Bought new fridge to keep chopped body parts of girlfriend
As per police, the man bought a 300-litre fridge to keep the severed body parts and used incense sticks and room fresheners to suppress the foul smell emanating from the corpse.
Where did they meet?
A senior police officer said that Poonawala and Walkar fell in love while they were working at a call centre in Mumbai. But their families objected to the relationship as they were from different faiths, prompting the couple to move to South Delhi’s Mehrauli earlier this year.
“Around mid-May, the couple had an argument over marriage, which escalated and Poonawala killed her,” Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP-I, South district, said.
“The accused then cut her body into over 35 pieces. He bought a 300 litre fridge to preserve the body parts and stocked up on incense sticks and room fresheners. He disposed the pieces in different parts of the city over several days. He used to step out past midnight to dump the severed body parts,” he added.
Chauhan said the woman was not in proper talking terms with her family due to their differences over her relationship with Poonawala.
According to a complaint filed by the victim’s father in Mumbai, one of her friends informed them in September that the woman’s phone had been unreachable for two months. The complaint alleged that Poonawala used to beat up Walkar on occasions and that she had informed her family about it earlier.
“The woman’s father called the accused up but was told that the couple had parted ways sometime back. Unable to contact his daughter, the man then filed a missing complaint,” Chauhan said.
Inspired from crime movies, web series including ‘Dexter’
Police said that during the probe, the accused revealed that he watched many crime movies and web series including American crime drama ‘Dexter’ before murdering his live-in partner.
Accused slept daily with live-in partner’s chopped body
News agency ANI quoted sources saying that that Poonawala used to sleep every day in the same room where he had chopped the body after killing Walkar. He used to see the face after keeping it in the fridge. Aftab had cleaned the fridge after disposing of the body parts.
They further said that Poonawala had relations with many girls even before Shraddha.
Why did he murder her?
During the investigation, Poonawala confessed to the crime and said that they fought often as Shraddha was putting pressure on him for marriage.
“The accused has been arrested and a case under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) has been registered at Mehrauli police station,” officials said.
Police also recovered some bones from the accused’s rented flat and officials said that the efforts to recover the remaining parts of the body were on.
With inputs from PTI and ANI
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