Shraddha Walkar case: Charges of murder, evidence disappearance against Aaftab Poonawala

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday framed charges of murder and causing disappearance of evidence against Aaftab Poonawala, who is accused of killing his live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar, and then chopping her body into pieces.
Additional sessions judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar in the Saket courts said a case for the offences under the IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) was made out against Aftab. "In the light of the aforesaid facts, sufficient material has been placed on record by the prosecution which warrants trial of the accused for both the offences," the order said.
After the charges were read out, Aaftab, who appeared in court, pleaded not guilty and asked for a trial. His lawyer put forward two arguments. First, the counsel said the charges under IPC sections 302 and 201 could not be filed together and "necessarily have to be alternate charges". Second, the counsel said that the prosecution's evidence was not substantive.
The court shot down both the arguments.
The court also said that "the stage of leading evidence cannot be trumped and the matter cannot be prejudged".
When Aaftab's counsel said that the charges could not be filed together, the court said this argument was "misconceived".
The court also mentioned that the prosecution had heavily relied on circumstantial evidence such as the last-seen evidence, recovery of bloodstains in a refrigerator and kitchen, recovery of hair and the jaw bone of the deceased after about five to six months of the murder. "Thus, it would not be expedient in the interest of justice to expect the prosecution to bring on record the exact manner in which the alleged offence was committed," the court said.
The judge said that the defence counsel's contention that no substantial evidence was presented by the prosecution was also without merit. The court said that the prosecution had relied on circumstantial and corroborative evidence such as recovery of body parts, digital trails, bloodstains, DNA profiling report, voice recording of the accused and the victim on a healthcare app, a previous complaint by Shraddha in Mumbai on November 23, 2020, post-mortem report, call records and statements of witnesses.
"Accordingly, the charge for the offences under Section 302/201 IPC is framed against the accused. The charge is read over and explained to the accused in the presence of his counsel and the accused has submitted that he has understood the charge. Thereafter, the accused has stated he does not plead guilty and he has claimed trial," the court said.
The next hearing is scheduled for June 1 for the trial to begin.