In a shocking incident, a 28-year-old man, Aaftab Ameen Poonawala was arrested on November 11 for allegedly strangulating his 26-year-old live-in partner, chopping her body into 35 pieces and dumping them across Delhi’s Mehrauli forest for over 18 days. He was nabbed by the police after his girlfriend Shraddha Madan’s father filed a missing person complaint with the Mumbai police.
Here’s what we know so far about the heinous crime-
- The victim’s father has demanded a death sentence for the accused. “We demand death penalty for Aftab. I trust Delhi Police & probe moving in right direction. Sharaddha was close to her uncle, didn’t talk to me much. I was never in touch with Aftab. I lodged the 1st complaint in Vasai,” ANI quoted Shraddha’s father Vikas Walker saying.
- Police said they are searching for the murder weapon which was used to chop her body parts.
- Aaftab operated Shraddha’s Instagram account until June to give the impression that she is alive, police added.
- He dumped her phone, her last location is being traced so that it can be retrieved.
- Shraddha and Aaftab’s common friend is to be questioned by the police.
- Police revealed that Poonawala continued to meet several women on the dating app after killing Walkar.
- He slept in the same room every day where he had chopped the vimtic’s body to avoid raising suspicion.
- He will be taken to his Delhi home by the cops to re-create the crime scene.
- Aaftab and Shraddha met through a dating app in Mumbai in 2019.
- After her family did not approve of their relationship, the couple eloped to Delhi and began a live-in relationship.
- They arrived in Delhi on May 8. They first spent a day in a hotel and a few days in a hostel before moving into an apartment in the Mehrauli neighborhood on May 15.
- On May 18, Aaftab brutally killed her and chopped off her body after they had an argument over their wedding. He revealed to the police that Shraddha was pressuring him into a marriage which would often lead to frequent fights between them.
- The accused brought a refrigerator where he kept his partner’s dismembered remains for 18 days before disposing of them.
- Every day after 2 am he would dump the body parts in the forest areas. Cops are still looking for the body parts, they have found 14 parts as of now.
- In September, Shraddha’s friend told her brother that there was no contact with her for 2.5 months. Her father filed a missing person complaint in Mumbai on October 12 after he failed to contact her as well.
- He was called for questioning by the Mumbai police on November 3, where he told the cops that the victim has moved out of the home after a fight.
- He was arrested from his house in Chhatarpur Pahadi on November 11.
- Trained as a chef, he took inspiration from the drama series ‘Dexter’ on how to dispose of the body.
