"He will hunt me, find me, kill me...": Shraddha Walkar in audio clip

• Image Credit: Google

• Mar 21, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Poonawala has been booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code...

Digital Desk: Special public prosecutor, Amit Prasad, who appeared on behalf of the state, played an audio clip of Shraddha Walkar, the 27-year-old woman who was allegedly killed by her live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawala, before a Delhi court on Monday, as he claimed that the couple's live-in relationship "had a violent history."

During the arguments on the charges, the prosecution played an audio clip from the Practo app, through which the couple had booked a session with a psychologist. In the clip, Walkar is reportedly heard saying, "...whenever I start ranting about my anger, if he is somewhere around, anywhere in Vasai (near Mumbai), anywhere around me in this…city, he will find me, he will hunt me down, he will try to kill me, that's… the problem.

"I don't know how many times he tried to kill me -- this is not the first time he tried to kill me... The way he grabbed my neck, I blacked out. I was unable to breathe for 30 seconds... Thankfully I was able to defend myself by pulling his hair," news agency PTI quoted Walkar as saying in the clip played in the court.

The charge sheet claims that on May 18, Poonawala reportedly strangled his live-in partner, Walkar, and sawed her body into several pieces, which he then kept at his home in Mehrauli, south Delhi, for almost three weeks. He then allegedly scattered the remains across Delhi, some of which have since been recovered.

On Monday, her father, Vikas Walkar, stated that, in the interest of justice, the murder case should be heard in a  time-bound manner in a fast-track court.

"We request for the proceedings to be conducted in a time-bound manner in a fast-track court," Vikas said.

His counsel, advocate Seema Kushwaha, said she would soon file a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking time-bound proceedings in a fast-track court.

The complainant in the case, Vikas, stated that he was unable to conduct his daughter's final rites because the recovered body parts were kept as evidence.

"In a few months, it will be an entire year of my daughter's death. When will I get the remains to complete her last rites?" Vikas asked while speaking to reporters outside the court.

Referring to Monday's hearings, during which an audio clip of Walkar was played in court, Kushwaha stated that Vikas began trembling due to the emotional turmoil caused by hearing his daughter's voice.

Kushwaha claimed that when Vikas heard his daughter's voice on the recording, he believed she was still alive. She stated that before DNA profile matching verified that the recovered remains belonged to his daughter, Vikas had hoped against all odds that she was alive.

During its arguments in court, Delhi Police said there are "incriminating circumstances disclosed through reliable and clinching evidence which make a chain of events."

Poonawala has been booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Indian Express reported that the special public prosecutor also relied on Shraddha's letter to the local police in Maharashtra on November 23, 2020, stating that Poonawala "tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scares and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and cast me away".