Vikas Walkar, the father of Shraddha Walkar, has demanded the death penalty for Aaftaab Poonawala, accused of killing her daughter in Delhi's Mehrauli area. He also accused him of waging what he called "love jihad" against the woman. Walker and Poonawala had been in a relationship for the past two years. Their families were against the relationship as they followed different religions. "I suspected a love jihad angle. We demand the death penalty for Aftab," he told the media, Vikas Walkar said he trusts the Delhi Police and the investigation has been heading in the right direction. Walkar said Shraddha wasn't on talking terms with him and was close to her uncle. He also revealed that he never spoke with Aaftab Poonawala.
Who was Aaftab Poonawala?
Aaftab Poonawala is a resident of Maharashtra. He met Shraddha Walkar in 2019 via a dating application. They fell in love. They later worked together in a call center. Poonawala and Walkar shifted to Delhi as their families were against their relationship.
Aaftab was a food blogger. He used to upload his videos on Instagram and has a substantial following. 28,000 people follow him on social media. However, he hasn't uploaded any fresh videos over the last few months. He hasn't been active on social media.
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On May 18, Poonawala allegedly murdered the woman in their rented flat in Delhi. He then chopped the woman's body and threw it piece-by-piece over a period of two months.
The couple was fond of traveling. In March-April, they traveled to Himachal Pradesh and met a man who lived in Delhi's Chhatarpur. Initially, they stayed at his house. Later they rented a flat in the Mehrauli area.
The police are investigating the case from the angle of conspiracy.
Aftab is a graduate and lived with his family in Mumbai. After murdering her, Aftab allegedly searched on Google terms like how to clean blood stains from the floor.
Aftab used to run the social media profiles of the woman to throw her friends off her trail and hide his crime. However, one of her friends alerted the family after he couldn't contact her for months.
Read: Aaftab Poonawala had sex with another woman in Mehrauli flat days after murdering Shraddha Walkar
Then, the woman's father lodged a police complaint.
The woman's murder got undetected for over six months.
