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On August 5, Shraddha Walkar would have turned 28. Instead of celebrating, Vikas Madan Walkar, the father of Shraddha, testified in a Delhi court that was recording the statements of the witnesses in connection with the sensational murder of his daughter allegedly by her live-in-partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala last year.
Vikas told the court that Poonawala had revealed to him that he chopped Shraddha’s body into pieces in the toilet after murdering her and threw them in a forested area near Chattarpur, news agency ANI reported.
Shraddha, who was in a live-in relationship with accused Poonawala, 28, was allegedly strangulated by the latter on May 18 last year. The accused allegedly dismembered her body, kept the body parts in a fridge and disposed those of at desolate places across Delhi over several days to dodge police and the public.
Additional sessions judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar recorded the statement of Vikas, a key prosecution witness in the case, on Saturday. The court deferred his cross-examination for August 9 after recording his examination in chief.
During the recording of the statement, Vikas reportedly also informed that the Delhi Police had recovered 13 bones, including a pelvic bone from a place which was identified by the accused during the investigation.
Vikas also identified the refrigerator, which was brought to the court to be exhibited as evidence. Some wooden pieces with suspected blood stains on them were also produced as evidence in court.
The accused, before disposing of the chopped pieces, packed them in trash bags and stuffed them in the fridge, Vikas said in the court. He alleged that Poonawala would remove the trash bag from the fridge and shift it to a shelf in the kitchen, whenever his new girlfriend visited him.
Shraddha’s father also identified other evidence in connection with the murder case. Audio and video clips of Shraddha and Poonwala’s conversations were also played in the courtroom.
Special public prosecutor Amit Prasad concluded the examination chief of Vikas. Thereafter, advocate Akshay Bhandari, the counsel for the accused, cross-examined Shraddha’s father for two hours. His cross-examination will be recorded further on August 9.
Earlier, Vikas had claimed that Poonawala had revealed to him that he had “strangulated” her with “his own hands”, news agency PTI reported.
Vikas testified that he went to the Mehrauli police station on November 11, 2022, where he was asked by the police officials whether he recognised Poonawala.
“I replied in the affirmative and said this is Poonawala, who was living with my daughter for the last three years. I also informed the police that he quarrelled with my daughter and beat her up on several occasions,” Vikas said.
He said at the police station, he saw officials interrogating Poonawala about the transfer of an amount from Shraddha’s account on May 20 (two days after the killing). Poonawala got perplexed and said no such thing had happened, he said.
“On my inquiry from Poonawala as to where my daughter was, he said she was no more…,” Vikas said.
“I was shocked and started feeling dizzy. When I recovered after a while, Poonawala started revealing how he killed my daughter. He told me that he had a fight with my daughter on May 18, 2022 at their Chhatarpur residence and further informed me that he had strangulated Shraddha with his own hands,” he said.
When the family opposed Shraddha’s decision to opt for a live-in relationship with Poonawala in 2019, the victim said being a 25-year-old woman, she was capable of taking her own decisions and that her father could well assume that henceforth, she ceased to be her daughter, Vikas said.
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