Delhi murder
Delhi murder: Shraddha Walkar WhatsApped photo of her bruised face to manager two years ago, investigation reveals
New Delhi/IBNS: Investigations have revealed that the victim of the sensational Delhi murder, Shraddha Walkar, had WhatsApp conversations and Instagram chats with friends and co-workers two years ago saying how she was once beaten badly by her boyfriend Aaftab Ameen Poonawala, who is now charged with having killed her and chopping her body into 35 pieces, media reports said.
As per those chats accessed by media, Shraddha said that she was so badly beaten that she couldn't get off the bed and had to later be hospitalised, said reports quoting police sources.
These chats are from when they lived together in their hometown Vasai near Mumbai and reveal a pattern of abuse that ended up in murder in May this year, say investigators.
"I won't be able to make it today because from all the beating yesterday my BP is low and my body hurts. I don't have the energy to get off the bed," she wrote to her work manager, Karan, in the WhatsApp chat, attaching a photo of her face with injury marks.
Screenshots of the conversations are now with Delhi Police and are corroborated by her hospital admission around the same time.
She told Karan she needed to "make sure he (Aftab) moves out today" and referred to having spoken to his parents too, in the chat from Nov 24, 2020, which suggests that they'd probably broken up in between.
Around a week after this, she was in a private hospital in Vasai between Dec 3 and 6, records show.
The doctor there said Shraddha had "only internal injuries" at the time. The hospital report listed "severe back pain, nausea, neck pain, difficulty in movement of neck, and tingling and numbness in lower limb". She did not go there for a follow-up.
Meanwhile, on Thursday it was revealed that Aftab Ameen Poonawala burnt his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar's face after allegedly strangulating her and chopping the body into 35 pieces to rule out the possibility of identification, Delhi Police sources have revealed to the media.
Twenty-eight-year-old Aftab, sources said, has told police that he found such information on how to conceal evidence on the internet.
Earlier reports have said that he was also "inspired" by crime shows, including Dexter.
On the fateful evening of the murder (May 18), Aaftab Ameen Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar were having arguments over monthly household expenses in their apartment in Delhi's Mehrauli, investigations have revealed as per media reports.
On May 18, their fight began over buying some household items and escalated as some other issues came in.
Sometime between 8 and 10 pm, Aftab Poonawala strangled Shraddha Walkar to death, media reports said quoting police sources.
Shraddha's friends and the couple's earlier landlords in Vasai near Mumbai too told NDTV that they had regular quarrels, mostly over suspicions of cheating on each other.
Aftab, who had met his partner Shraddha Walkar in an online dating app, moved together to a place in Delhi's Mehrauli in May this year.
Being inspired by Dexter, the accused then bought a saw to chop Shraddha's body and a 300-litre refrigerator to store the 35 pieces for 18 days.
The Delhi police Tuesday took accused Aaftab Ameen Poonawala, 28, to the forest area, where he allegedly threw Shraddha's body parts after murdering her.
The search operation went on for three hours and at least 10 body parts have been found.
The victim's father, Vikas Walkar, on Tuesday, demanded the death penalty for Aftab, while also suspecting a "love jihad" angle behind the incident.
Aaftab was brought out of Mehrauli Police Station and taken to the jungle to recover the body parts he dumped one by one at different spots.
What is the case all about?
In a shocking case, Aaftab Ameen Poonawala allegedly strangled his live-in partner, then chopped her body into 35 pieces, stored them in his fridge and dumped them in Delhi's Mehrauli forest over 18 days, media reports said.
He got away with the murder for five to six months.
Every morning at 2 am, he would step out to dump the body parts, reports said.
The 28-year-old has been sent to five days in police custody after he was arrested from his flat.
For 18 days after murdering Shraddha on May 18, Aaftab disposed of the pieces in different areas of the Mehrauli forest, they added.
During the questioning, Aaftab told the police that he and Shraddha had a rocky relationship and often indulged in fights.
He said that Shraddha had been pressuring him to get married and they would frequently quarrel about it.
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