Shraddha Murder Case: Here's Why Maha Police Closed Case on Victim's Abuse Complaint in 2020

As police investigate deep into the Shraddha Walkar murder case, new evidence and previous cases are coming to light every day. One such matter is a complaint letter written by Walkar in 2020 against her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, who is now accused of brutally killing her. But the question that arises from this is, why did the police not take action despite a written complaint?

In the letter, which was submitted to the police in Maharashtra’s Vasai, Walkar stated, “Today he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scares me and blackmails me that he will kill me, cut me up in pieces and throw me away. It’s been six months he has been hitting me but I did not have the guts to go to the police because he would threaten to kill me.”

Maharashtra Police on Wednesday said that it had started an investigation based on the letter by Walkar in 2020 but it was stopped midway because the victim gave a written statement to withdraw the case.

DCP of Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) Commissionerate, Suhas Bavache said that Walkar in her written statement had stated that “the dispute between herself and Aaftab Poonawala was resolved.”

“Whatever necessary action had to be taken in that matter was done by police at that time. The application that was given by the complainant was also investigated. After the investigation, the complainant herself gave a written statement that there is no dispute. Her friend’s parents also cajoled her to resolve the dispute. She gave the written statement and after that the case was closed,” Bavache told the news agency ANI.

Talking about Walkar’s 2020 complaint letter, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said it will be probed why no action was taken at that time. “I saw the letter and it has very serious allegations. We will have to investigate why was no action taken. I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything but if action is not taken on such a letter, such incidents happen. It will be investigated. Maybe she could have been saved had action been taken,” he said, adding, “Maybe she could have been saved if action was taken.”

Poonawala has been accused of strangling to death his alleged live-in partner Shraddha and chopping her body into pieces. He is also alleged to have preserved the chopped body parts in a refrigerator before dumping them in the forests of south Delhi’s Chhatarpur.

The Maharashtra Police said that in the year 2020, Walkar had made a complaint at the Tulinj Police Station in Maharashtra’s Palghar, in which she stated that Poonawala, had beaten her and threatened to kill her.