What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Shraddha Walker, the 26-year-old call centre worker who was murdered and chopped into 35 pieces by her boyfriend Aaftab Poonawala, missed work because of severe beating from her live-in partner. She also had to be hospitalized in 2020 with injuries from physical assault. She fractured her nose in one of Aaftab’s bout of violence.
These gory details of the history of abuses and violent assault she underwent at the hand of her boyfriend are emerging through chats being shared by her friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
The chats also reveal that she didn’t want to continue in the relationship.
On 24th November 2020, Shraddha texted her former manager about taking a day off from the office due to “all the beating yesterday.” She said, “So yesterday everything got sorted after going to his parent’s house. He’s moving out today.”
“And I wont be able to make it today because from all the beating yesterday I guess my bp is low and my body hurt. Energy nahi bachi hai bed se uthne ki (I’ve no energy to get up from the bed),” she texted.
She further added, “I need to make sure he moves out today.”
The violence was apparently impacting her work.
It has also emerged that Shraddha, was admitted to a Nalasopara hospital for three days for suspected internal injuries in December 2020.
Back then Aaftab had introduced himself as her husband to the hospital staff.
According to police officials in Mumbai and Delhi, Shraddha and Aaftab came in contact through dating app Bumble in 2019 when she was working at a call centre in Malad.
The parents of Shraddha, who is a Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM) graduate, were against their relationship, but she rebelled and eloped with Aaftab to Delhi.
He strangled Shraddha on May 18 following a tiff, barely days after they started living together in a rented accommodation in Chhatarpur. With the calmness of a professional killer, Aftab first put the dead body in the bathroom and waited for the night to think about what should be done for its disposal.
After spending the night with Shraddha’s corpse, Aftab bought a refrigerator and an iron saw on May 19. With the precision of a chef, Aftab then chopped the body parts into 35 pieces. Each body part was wrapped separately in black plastic bags. He kept the bags in the refrigerator.
Shraddha’s severed head was found in Sanjay Van, a sprawling forest area near Mehrauli, sources told The New Indian.
The incident came to light when her father Vikas Madan lodged a missing person report at Mehrauli police station on November 8 after her phone went unreachable for a few days.
Based on his complaint, the police registered an FIR and started the investigation. They first went to the house where Sharddha and Aftab used to live in rented accommodation. The house was locked, and Aftab was unavailable. With the help of technical surveillance, the police managed to arrest Aftab on Saturday.
During interrogation, Aftab told police that he first strangled her to death and then chopped her body parts into 35 pieces. To evade suspicion, he kept the body parts in the refrigerator and started disposing of them one by one, Aaftab told investigators.
