On Saturday (November 19), Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta pointed out a rise in cybercrime across the country and blamed easy internet access for the same. In the backdrop of the horrific murder of Shraddha Walkar, who was strangulated and chopped into 35 pieces by her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala, Justice Datta opined that the case exemplifies the drawback of access to the internet these days.
Bombay HC CJ was addressing a seminar on ‘Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Telecom, Broadcasting, IT and Cyber Sectors’, organised by Telecom Dispute Statement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in Pune. He said, “You have read in the papers about certain stories about love in Mumbai and horror in Delhi, and all of these crimes are being committed because there is so much access to material on the internet.”
Justice Datta also underlined the need for robust legislation to tackle the situations to fulfill the preamble promise of securing justice and dignity for all citizens.
“Now I am confident that the Indian government is thinking in the right direction. The Indian Telecommunications Bill is there, and we need robust legislation to deal with all of these issues if we are to keep our preamble promise of securing justice for all our citizens’ fraternity and preserving the dignity of every individual.”
Shraddha Walkar murder case
On November 14, the Delhi Police solved Shraddha Walkar‘s six-month-old murder case by arresting Aftab Poonawala for murdering her and then chopping her into 35 small pieces and disposing her body across Delhi. On May 18, Aftab carried out the murder and kept her body parts in the refrigerator. He then disposed of the body parts over the next 18 days in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest. The accused was arrested based on the complaint filed by Shraddha’s father on November 10. He stated in the complaint that the accused and the deceased had rented an apartment in Delhi and were staying in a live-in relationship.
In the latest development in the case, a Delhi Police team present in Maharashtra’s Vasai to investigate the case, on Saturday recorded the statement of Shraddha Walkar’s ex-manager, Karan Behri, and her best friend Shivani Mhatre. Reportedly, police will use the WhatsApp chats of Karan Behri and Shivani Mhatre as evidence.
