New Delhi: Delhi’s Saket court today framed charges against Aftab Poonawala, accused of murdering his live-in girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into pieces. The Delhi Police had booked Poonawala under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, which has now been framed by the court after examining evidence produced by the police.
Poonawala, however, denied the charges and demanded a trial. The matter has been posted for further proceedings on June 1.
The Delhi Police filed a 6,629-page charge sheet in the case on January 24.
Special public prosecutor Amit Prasad in March submitted an audio/video recording in which Walkar is purportedly heard telling her psychologist that Poonawala would “hunt me, find me and kill me” while pointing towards a violent history of their relationship.
The Delhi Police submitted that Poonawala used his mobile phones and operated his bank accounts to create a facade after killing Walkar.
Advocate Akshay Bhandari, who appeared for Poonawala, submitted on March 31 the charge of tampering with evidence and shielding the accused cannot be jointly framed with the murder charge.
He pointed out that only saying that Poonawala is guilty of murdering Walkar is insufficient and that the prosecution should also show the manner in which the crime was committed.
In January, the Delhi Police filed a 6629-page charge sheet detailing how Poonawala murdered Walkar by strangling her and dismembering her body.
It said Poonawala kept the sawed body parts in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi’s Mehrauli. He then allegedly scattered the remains across Delhi, some of which have since been recovered.
