Shraddha Walkar murder case: Her father seeks questioning of accused Aaftab’s parents

PTI, Apr 11, 2023, 11:51 AM IST

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Vikas Walkar, the father of Shraddha Walkar who was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala, on Tuesday demanded the latter’s parents be questioned in connection with his daughter’s murder. If the involvement Poonawala’s parents is found in the case, then action should be taken against them, Vikas Walkar told PTI over phone. He also demanded the case be fast-tracked and Poonawala hanged, instead of waiting for a number of years like in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

According to the chargesheet filed in the case, Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha Walkar on May 18 last year and sawed her body into several pieces, which he kept in a refrigerator for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi’s Mehrauli. Vikas Walkar said he recently met officials of the Vasai police in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, where he lives, and asked about the case and Poonawala’s parents.

The police said they were not aware about Poonawala’s parents, he claimed. ”As I know, the statements of his parents in the case have not been recorded and I don’t know where they are. They should be brought to the front and questioned,” he said Vikas Walkar also demanded that the trial against Poonawala be fast-tracked. ”Aaftab should be hanged after a speedy trial, I don’t want to wait for years to get justice,” he said adding that in the case of Nirbhaya, her family had to wait for seven years to get justice. Vikas Walkar also demanded that his daughter’s remains be handed over to him within a year of her death to perform the last rites. ”I want that Shraddha’s remains should be handed over to me at the earliest, but police are saying they will hand over them to me after the legal process as charges are yet to framed and the identification of the remains is yet to conducted,” he said.

The Delhi Police filed a 6,629-page chargesheet in the case on January 24.