Highlights
- On May 18, the couple had a fight, and the accused strangled her in a fit of rage, they said.
- Soon after, one of her friends informed Shraddha’s brother about her phone being switched off for over 2 months.
In an absolute shocker, police in Delhi have arrested a man on charges of killing his live-in partner, chopping her body into 35 pieces, and disposing off the body parts at different places in and around the city.’
The accused identified as Aftab (28), and the deceased, Shraddha (28) met while working at a call centre in Mumbai and fell in love, said Delhi police officials.
The couple shifted to Delhi and started living at a rented apartment in the Chhatarpur area when their families refused to accept their relationship, Mehrauli police told news agency ANI.
Details of the heinous crime
As per officials accused killed her when she started forcing him into marriage. On May 18, the couple had a fight, and the accused strangled her in a fit of rage, they said.
He then chopped her body into 35 pieces, bought a refrigerator, and kept them in it, they added. Later he started disposing off the body pieces at different locations in and around Delhi over 18 days. He would step out at 2 am every day to dump the body parts across Delhi and mostly at different areas of the Mehrauli forest, sources say.
Police said some remains were recovered from the forest but it is not known if they are human remains. The knife used by the accused, who was reportedly trained as a chef, has also not been found yet, they said.
How did they find out about her murder?
When the victim stopped talking to parents, her family checked her social media accounts and found no updates during this period. Soon after, one of her friends informed Shraddha’s brother about her phone being switched off for over 2 months.
On November 8, her father Vikas Madaan Walkar came to Delhi to check on his daughter and found a lock on her flat. He approached the Mehrauli Police and filed a complaint alleging kidnapping.
In his complained, Walkar alleged that Shraddha had earlier told him that Poonawalla used to frequently beat her. On the basis of this, police arrested Poonawalla on Saturday. During the investigation, he revealed that the two fought frequently as Shraddha wanted to marry him, police sources said.
The police have filed a case of murder against Poonawalla.
