In a major development in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, a Delhi court on Saturday kept May 9 as the date to pass the verdict on framing charges against Aftab Amin Poonawala. He has been accused of strangling his live-in partner and chopping her body into several pieces. Additional Sessions judge Vishal Pahuja adjourned the hearing while noting that the concerned judge was on leave, reported news agency PTI.
Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar on April 15 had reserved the order for Saturday after hearing arguments from both sides on framing of charges.
The hearing on an application by Walkar’s father regarding the remains of the woman being handed over to the family for last rites has also been adjourned for May 9.
On the next date of the hearing, Delhi Police will be filing its reply to the application. On April 15, the probe agency sought time in order to file its reply to the plea of Walkar’s father.
Delhi Police has booked the accused under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and filed a 6,629-page charge sheet on January 24, reported PTI.
On May 18, 2022, Shraddha Walkar was allegedly strangled by Aftab Poonawala, following which the accused sawed her body into many pieces and kept them in a fridge for more than two weeks at his residence in Delhi’s Mehrauli. In order to avoid the risk of being caught, Poonawala scattered the body parts of Walkar at different places in the national capital. People were shaken to their cores when the news surfaced about the gruesome murder.
New details of the case continued to emerge even weeks after the crime came to light. Earlier in March, the Delhi Police provided new information on the case during a hearing at Saket court. According to the police, the accused is a trained chef who knows how to preserve flesh. He received his training at the Taj Hotel.
