Inspired by “Dexter” Man Kills Partner, Dumped Body in 35 Pieces
A 28 year old man allegedly strangled his live-in partner and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days.
Aftab Ameen Poonawala, 28, allegedly strangled his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar on May 18 after they had a fight. He then chopped her body into 35 pieces and bought a 300-liter fridge to keep them, sources say. Over the next 18 days, he disposed of the pieces at different areas of the Mehrauli forest, they added.
He would step out at 2 am every day to dump the body parts, sources say. The accused has been sent to five days in police custody.
To be sure, a confession or disclosure statement of any person made before a police officer is not admissible as evidence before a court unless it is backed by other evidence. Only a confession before a judge is admissible as evidence against an accused.
According to preliminary investigations, the woman worked in a call center in Mumbai where she came in contact with the accused. Her parents did not approve of their relationship. At some point, they shifted out to Delhi and started living in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area.
Citing Poonawalla’s interrogation, police said the couple had a heated argument on May 18 which turned violent. The accused allegedly smothered Shraddha.
Aaftab told the police during the investigation that he killed Shraddha Walkar after a quarrel over marriage and the idea of chopping her body into pieces was inspired by “Dexter”, an American crime TV series.
He not only bought the fridge to preserve the body parts but also stocked incense sticks and room fresheners to suppress the foul smell emanating from the corpse.
Stepping out past midnight with body parts packed in poly bags, the accused meticulously planned which ones to dispose first depending upon which part starts decomposing at the earliest, the police said.
According to police officials, 13 body parts were found after the accused pinpointed the areas where he had thrown them, but only after their forensic examination, it can be confirmed if they belong to the victim.
Aftab Amin Poonawala seen sleeping inside Delhi Police lockup in Mehrauli
— Rohan Dua (@rohanduaT02) November 15, 2022
Aftab Amin looks to have no remorse and no guilt, six months after he killed his live-in partner Shraddha & dismembered her into 35 parts.
Mind you, only 18 parts have been recovered.Such was the planning pic.twitter.com/iIoMPFFx73
For the next few weeks after the murder, Poonawala allegedly interacted with the woman’s friends using her social media accounts so as to not arouse any suspicion. Walkar was not talking to her family as they had objected to their relationship.
Poonawala and Walkar had met each other through an online dating application. Later, they started working for the same call centre in Mumbai and fell in love. But their families objected to the relationship as they belong to different faiths, prompting the couple to move to Mehrauli earlier this year, the officials said.
Police said the woman’s family filed a complaint with the Mehrauli police after noticing that she hadn’t been uploading photographs on her social media accounts. The officer said they brought in her live-in partner for questioning and found gaps in his explanation for her absence.
Police said they are trying to locate some of the body parts and collect other forensic evidence to establish the sequence of events.
