Shraddha Walkar Murder Case | Delhi HC to Tihar Jail: Unlock Aftab For 8 Hours Like Other Prisoners

New Delhi: The Delhi Court on Friday, March 15, directed the Tihar Jail officials to grant Aftab Poonawala, the accused in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, 8 hours of daytime release like other inmates.

However, the court stipulated that Aftab must be confined to a solitary cell during the night.

This development comes after Aftab moved a habeas corpus plea before the court, alleging that he is being unjustly subjected to solitary confinement for 22 hours daily under the garb of security threat. He argued that other prisoners are being granted 8 hours of release, while he is allowed only one hour of release in the morning and one in the evening.

Shraddha Walkar Muder Case Background:

Shraddha Walkar, 27 and Aftab Poonawalla, 28, hailing from Mumbai, were in a live-in relationship and moved to Delhi in May 2022.

The horrifying case came to light nearly 6 months after Shraddha's father lodged a missing complaint when a friend informed him that he had not heard from her for nearly two months.

As per reports, Aftab strangled Shraddha over an argument and then proceeded to dismember her body into 35 pieces, allegedly charring her face to hide her identity. Furthermore, he stored her body parts in a fridge, which he later disposed in the Chhatarpur forest over the next 18 days to avoid suspicion.

The accused was arrested by the Delhi Police in November 2022 after 13 decomposed body parts, mostly pieces of bones, retrieved on Poonawala’s insistence led to a DNA match that confirmed that Shraddha was killed.

The Delhi Court earlier framed Aftab with murder charges and for the disappearance of evidence. Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar said prima facie a case for offences under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) was made out against the accused.

Aftab Poonawala has pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.