NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday framed charges of murder and causing disappearance of evidence against Aaftab Poonawala, accused of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into 35 pieces.
Poonawala then kept the body parts in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before disposing them in batches in forested areas of Delhi.
Poonawala was produced before the Saket court on Tuesday, where Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Manisha Khurana Kakkar pronounced the court’s order.
ASJ Kakkar then read out the order to Poonawala, who was represented by his lawyer Akshay Bhandari during the hearing.
"On May 18, 2022, after 6:30 am, you committed the murder of Shraddha Walkar and the offence is punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," she read out.
Continuing, the judge said, "Between May 18 and October 18, knowing that offence has been committed, you cut her body into pieces with an intention to disappear evidence, and disposed of her body in Chattarpur and in other places. You have, thereby, committed the offence of disappearance of evidence.”
Poonawala’s lawyer replied, "We claim trial," when the court asked Poonawala whether he would plead guilty to the charges or not.
He will now have to face the murder trial of Shraddha Walkar, which is set to begin on June 1.
In January of this year, the Delhi Police had filed a 6,636-page chargesheet, involving a mix of forensic and electronic evidence, along with 100 testimonies.
Delhi Police has booked Poonawala for offences under IPC’s section 302 related to murder, and section 201 which involves causing disappearance of evidence of offence.
The chargesheet says Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha Walkar on May 18 last year and hacked her body into several pieces. He then allegedly kept the body parts in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli.
The prime accused in the Shraddha Walkar murder case then allegedly disposed off the body parts across several areas in Delhi. Police have since recovered several parts of the body after intensive searches.
Also watch: