Woman Killed By Live-In Partner, Body Cut Into 35 Pieces, Dumped: Delhi Police

A man has been arrested in south Delhi over accusations that he killed his live-in partner after a fight in May this year, chopped her body into pieces and stuffed them into a refrigerator and dumped the pieces in different parts of the city over the next few weeks, a senior police officer said on Monday.

Police said the man was arrested following a missing complaint filed by the father of the 26-year-old woman, Shraddha, who complained that he hadn’t been able to get in touch with her for months.

A senior police officer said they questioned the man, identified as Aftab Poonawalla, about his live-in partner and he allegedly confessed to the murder and told them that he cut her body into 35 pieces.

To be sure, a confession or disclosure statement of any person made before a police officer is not admissible as evidence before a court unless it is backed by other evidence. Only a confession before a judge is admissible as evidence against an accused.

According to preliminary investigations, the woman worked in a call centre in Mumbai where she came in contact with the accused.

Her parents did not approve of their relationship. At some point, they shifted out to Delhi and started living in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area.

Citing Poonawalla’s interrogation, police said the couple had a heated argument on May 18 which turned violent. The accused allegedly smothered Shraddha.

Police said the man allegedly purchased a refrigerator, chopped Shraddha’s body and kept them in a refrigerator to slow down the decomposition. For the next two weeks or so, he would leave home every night and dump some of the pieces at one place or the other.

Police said the woman’s family filed a complaint with the Mehrauli police after noticing that she hadn’t been uploading photographs on her social media accounts. The officer said they brought in her live-in partner for questioning and found gaps in his explanation for her absence.

Police said they are trying to locate some of the body parts and collect other forensic evidence to establish the sequence of events.