Aftab Amin Poonawala, the man accused of killing and chopping off his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar’s body into 35 pieces is now spending his days in Tihar Jail reading the 6629-page long chargesheet filed against him.
It is worth recalling that accused Aftab killed Shraddha in May 2022, six months before his arrest. He allegedly killed her and chopped her body into 35 small pieces. He then bought a new fridge and stored her chopped body parts for days. Over the next few weeks, he disposed of Shraddha’s body in different locations across Delhi. Aftab chopped her body into pieces, he also allegedly ground her bones into powder to scatter on the road.
Aftab, however, has never shown a sign of regret or remorse for murdering his live-in partner mercilessly. According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, Aftab remains quiet most of the time in cell number 15 of jail number 4 in Tihar Jail, reading his chargesheet. He often demands bottled water in jail.
Dainik Bhaskar reported that on December 5, Aftab was produced before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar. The court was to record the testimonies of three witnesses, including the doctor who conducted the postmortem of Shraddha Walkar’s body parts recovered during the police investigation. It is said that Aftab has lost nearly 15 kgs since he was lodged in jail. An official at Saket Court’s lockup room told Bhaskar that Aftab fears that someone would mix poison in his food and due to this fear he does not even eat food provided in the court, he brings his own packet of biscuits. The official said that Aftab often asks for packaged drinking water and new clothes in jail. However, none of his demands is fulfilled and is provided with the same items as provided to other prisoners.
When asked about why Aftab fears that someone would poison his meal and kill him, the official said that when Aftab arrived at the court for the first time, several lawyers had attacked him. Since then, he feels that he is not safe in the court.
Interestingly, back in April last year, it was reported that Aftab’s jail inmates had thrashed him while being transported to Delhi’s Saket Court for the case hearing. The court had then ordered the jail administration to ensure Aftab’s safety.
Furthermore, the lockup room officials said since the first day to this date Aftab has never expressed any regret over his horrific crime. They said that Aftab’s body language has remained the same since day one, he even believes that he would be acquitted. The officials also said that nobody comes to visit Aftab in jail, not even his family members.
Speaking to Bhaskar, the Investigation Officer in the case Ram Singh said that until the filing of the chargesheet, he used to meet Aftab for one hour regularly for investigation in Mehrauli Jail. IO Singh said that Aftab has a tough mind adding that when Mumbai Police interrogated him for two days, Aftab did not reveal anything, “not even a word”.
IO Singh further stated that Aftab is quite temperamental. He once said “Yes, I made a mistake. I did make a mistake, should I die now?”, however, he never explicitly regretted his actions.
The investigation officer also said that apart from having a telephone conversation with his father once, Aftab has not been in touch with his family. Neither his family members come to meet him nor does he try to contact them.
When asked about the delays in the case, advocate Seema Kushwaha said that even though the matter is being heard in a Fast-track court, it is not time-bound, thus there has been a delay in the filing of chargesheets and other procedures. She further pointed out that Aftab is “playing tricks”. Kushwaha said that Aftab has changed three lawyers so far in a year and now a new lawyer Akshay Bhandari is appearing for him. “Sometimes the accused uses various tactics to delay and divert the case. When a new lawyer comes he says that he needs time to read chargesheet etc…,” Kushwaha said adding that Aftab’s lawyers often miss the hearing.
Shraddha Walkar murder case
On November 14, the Delhi Police solved the six-month-old murder case of Shraddha Walkar and arrested Aftab Poonawalla for murdering her, and then chopping her into 35 small pieces. Aftab executed the murder on May 18 and stored her body parts in the refrigerator. He then disposed of the body pieces in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest during the next 18 days.
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 an unhealthy live-in relationship. He said that he had always opposed their relationship as Aftab used to physically assault Shraddha. The accused has been arrested and a case under IPC section 302 (murder) has been registered against him.
The girl, a resident of Palghar, was adamant about continuing her relationship with accused Aftab and shifted to Delhi with him. Three days after they shifted to Delhi, they engaged in a quarrel and Aftab killed Shraddha. He confessed to his crime on November 14 and stated that they used to fight a lot. He said that he murdered Shraddha on May 18 as she was forcing him to get married to her. They also fought over who would manage the domestic household expenses.
