Story of 26-year-old Shraddha butchered by a live-in partner in Delhi

Delhi police have arrested a man for allegedly killing his partner, cutting his body into 35 pieces and dumping them at various locations in Delhi. The accused Aftab Ameen Poonawala was sent into 5-day police custody by a local court on Monday.

Police said the man was arrested following a missing person report filed by the 26-year-old woman's father, Shraddha, who complained that he had not been able to contact her for months.

What's the whole story?

A senior police officer said the man, identified as Aftab Ameen Poonawala, was questioned about his partner and that he allegedly confessed to the murder and told them that he cut her body into 35 pieces.

The police, following a tip, arrested Aftab, who allegedly confessed that he killed Shraddha while she was pressuring him to marry her. She said the two often fought over the issue and when things got out of hand, he killed her in May this year.

"The duo fell in love while working in Mumbai and arrived in Delhi in late April or the first week of May after facing opposition from their families. While living in the national capital, they had a discussion in mid-May about marriage, it escalated and he strangled her," said Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP-I, Southern District.

How Shraddha met Aftab?

Shraddha, 26, was working at the call center of a multinational company in Mumbai, where she met Poonawala. The two began dating and moved in together. After her family did not approve of their relationship, the couple eloped and came to Delhi. They started living in a flat in Mehrauli. They had met via a dating app, reported ANI.

After almost two months, Shraddha's brother was informed by one of his friends that his phone was turned off. On November 8, his father, Vikas Madaan Walkar, went to Delhi to check on his daughter and found a padlock on his apartment.

He approached the Mehrauli Police and filed a kidnapping complaint. Shraddha told her mother about her relationship with Aftab sometime in 2019. Shraddha's parents were not happy with her relationship with Aftab.

The two came to Delhi from Mumbai on May 8 this year, and spent the first night at a hotel in Paharganj. They then moved to a hostel in Saidulajab in Delhi, where they spent a few days. Thereafter, they got a flat in Chhatarpur, Delhi, where they began to live together.

After May 2022, Vikas said that he did not hear from his daughter. Shraddha's friend Laxman Nadar informed his father Vikas that Shraddha's phone had not been available since May 2022.

Aftab's interrogation

The Delhi Police said that when questioning Aftab, they found inconsistencies in his statement. He kept changing his words, police say.

• After killing Shraddha, Aftab slept in the same room.

• He left home every night at 2 am for 16 days to dispose of some body parts.

• Aftab continued to order food on Zomato and did not interact with anyone to avoid suspicion.

• He initially told the police that Shraddha had left him after an argument over marriage.

Body parts recovered in different parts of Delhi

Some severed body parts of the woman have been recovered, police officials said Monday, adding that the weapon used in the crime has yet to be found.

Shradhha was not in contact with her family who did not approve of her relationship. In November, however, her father, Vikas Madaan, came to Delhi to check on her daughter, only to find that her apartment in Mehrauli was closed. He approached the Mehrauli police and filed a kidnapping complaint.

Swati Maliwal, Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, tweeted "In a heart-wrenching case, a girl was killed by her boyfriend in Delhi and kept in the fridge in 35 pieces! The pieces of her dead body were thrown in different areas of the city. What kind of monsters are living in society? The police have arrested the accused, he should be punished severely."

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