Shillong, May 9: Aftab Poonawala was charged with murder by a Delhi court on Tuesday in connection with the shooting death of Shraddha Walkar. Additionally, he is accused of disappearance of evidence.
Aftab Poonawala has declared his pleaded not guilty and asked for a trial.
After hearing from the defence and prosecution attorneys over the structuring of the charges, the judge reserved the order for Saturday on April 15.
The hearing on a motion by Walkar’s father asking the judge to hand over the woman’s body to the family for the final rites as required by tradition and culture was also postponed until May 9.
On the following hearing date, Delhi Police is expected to submit its response to the application. On April 15, the investigation agency requested more time to submit a response to the father of Walkar’s petition.
The Delhi Police have charged Poonawala with violating sections 201 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with causing the loss of evidence of an offence and murder, respectively.
On January 24, Delhi Police submitted a 6,629-page charge sheet in the case.
On May 18 of last year, Poonawala allegedly strangled Walkar before sawing her body into pieces and storing them in a refrigerator for about three weeks at his Mehrauli home in South Delhi. To avoid being discovered, he dispersed the body pieces.
