‘He used to emotionally blackmail, beat her': Inside Aftab Poonawala and Shraddha Walkar's toxic relationship

After grisly details of Shraddha Walkar’s murder by her live-in partner, Aftab Amin Poonawala, emerged, the couple’s friends and family are now giving a peek into the couple’s ‘toxic’ and ‘abusive’ relationship.

Inspired by the American crime drama Dexter, 28-year-old Aftab, a food vlogger, allegedly strangled his girlfriend in May, chopped her body into 35 pieces, then stored them in a refrigerator, and later scattered them in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest over a span of 18 days.

The duo were in a relationship since 2019 and moved to Delhi from Mumbai in April-end or May first week this year. They lived in a single-room apartment located on the first floor in Delhi’s Chhattarpur Pahadi, where they had moved on 15 May this year.

It has also come to light that Aftab, who was a trained chef, brought another woman to the apartment while Shraddha’s body was in the 300-litre fridge that he had brought after the killing. As per NDTV, he met the other woman – just 15-20 days after the killing – on the dating app Bumble, where he had met Shraddha in 2019.

Aftab was successfull in keeping the murder under wraps for six months and was only arrested last Saturday.

What have friends and family said about Shraddha Walkar and Aftab Amin Poonawala? What have they revealed about the couple’s relationship? Let’s take a closer look.

Shraddha was full of ‘spark’

The 26-year-old had a degree in Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM) and worked for a sports retail company before joining a call centre.

Shraddha Walkar’s friend Rajat Shukla remembers her as someone who had a “lot of spark” in her personality, reports NDTV.

He told the TV channel that he met Shraddha when they were in college. “We both wanted to be journalists so we often studied together. We were theatre enthusiasts. We acted together in several theatre productions,” Rajat said.

Shraddha Walkar changed after her relationship with Aftab Amin Poonawala. News18

Shraddha, who was a resident of Vasai located in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, used to stay with her mother – who died in 2020 – and younger brother. As per Indian Express, her father did not stay with them.

After leaving home in October 2019, she moved in with Aftab and lived at Naigaon and then Vasai for a while, reports Indian Express.

Rajat said she had informed her friends of her plan to shift to Delhi along with the boyfriend.

“She said they had decided to move to Delhi for work. We lost contact with her after she moved,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

ALSO READ: From Delhi’s Dexter-inspired killing to Tandoor murder: When love stories turned fatal

‘Reserved’ man

Aftab, who also hails from Vasai, was a chef-turned-photographer, who then became a food vlogger.

He has also worked for a call centre and then for an IT company, as per Indian Express.

Aftab was working as a graphic designer when he met Shraddha in 2019. “Their decision to live in had come as a shock to friends of both Aftab and Shraddha. They were open about it and often partied together,” a friend told Times of India (TOI).

A neighbour of the couple in Delhi told Indian Express that they would see Aftab going to work and roaming around but never suspected anything. “He was always polite,” the neighbour added.

Aftab Amin Poonawala was allegedly inspired by crime show Dexter. PTI

He had reportedly not informed his parents initially about moving to Delhi with Shraddha. He rang them in July to say he has secured a job and has ended his relationship with her, reports TOI.

Aftab’s family and friends refuse to believe his involvement in the gruesome murder. “Aftab is reserved by nature. He was confused about what to do in life and that was worrying his father. But it is difficult to believe that he committed a gruesome murder,” a family friend was quoted as saying by TOI.

‘Toxic relationship’

Shraddha “feared for her life”, recalls Rajat. He told Times Now that Shraddha had spoken about how Aftab “abused and beat” her on several occasions.

“They used to have a lot of fights. There was a fight to such an extent that she texted me on WhatsApp and asked me to take her somewhere that night. She said that if she lived with Aftab that night, he would kill her,” Rajat was quoted as saying by ANI. 

The friend told Indian Express that Shraddha had said she would file a police complaint, however, he used to “emotionally blackmail her”. The friend also divulged having seen bruises on her several times.

He again allegedly assaulted her in 2021 when her friends had to intervene and come to her rescue. “I saw bruises on her neck, upper chest and her nose was bruised too. Even back then, we had warned him that we would file a police complaint,” the friend was cited by Indian Express.

The friend added that though Shraddha stayed with a friend for a couple of days, she later went back to Aftab. “He had too much influence on her. She told us that Aftab told her he will commit suicide and she believed he would, so she did not go to the police and stayed with him,” her friend said.

Shraddha’s father, Vikas Walkar, has called for the death penalty for Aftab. He said he knew his daughter was in a “toxic” relationship. “She was a different person before she met Aftab. She was sweet and ambitious. I don’t know what happened but she changed after she met him. She stopped talking to me and would rarely speak to her mother. I was worried after her mother’s death. I knew she was in a toxic relationship with that boy. I tried stopping her but she wouldn’t listen,” Vikas told Indian Express.

Before her murder in May, Shraddha had reportedly told her close friend that they have “almost broken up” and she is looking for a new place in Delhi.

A friend told Indian Express that the couple who had a “turbulent” live-in relationship wanted to give it a “last shot” and went to Himachal Pradesh for a trip this year. “Even there, they were having fights and Shraddha had told us she had decided to break up and their relationship was nearing an end. After the Himachal Pradesh trip, they decided to spend some time in Delhi and I think she was waiting for 16 May, which was their anniversary,” Indian Express quoted the friend as saying.

On 18 May, Shraddha was dead after Aftab allegedly strangled her after an argument over marriage escalated. And now six months later after the crime came to light, her loved ones are seeking justice for her.

“This cannot be a love story. Love stories don’t end like that. Investigators need to find out who he is and what he was thinking when he did this. I hope for justice for Shraddha,” Rajat told NDTV.

With inputs from agencies

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