A 2020 WhatsApp chat of Shraddha with her manager has been accessed. In this chat, Shraddha can be seen telling her manager that she won't be turning up for work because of the assault by Aaftab. She goes on to tell the person that she was beaten up by her live-in partner and that she cannot bear the beatings anymore. The chat is from November 24, 2020, which suggests that they had probably broken up in between.
Shraddha says, "He is moving out today. And I won't be able to make it today because of all the beating from yesterday I guess my bp is low and my body hurts. Energy nhi bachi hai bed se uthne ki (I don't have the energy to get up from the bed) Also I need to make sure he moves out today. Sincere apologies for the trouble I have caused to you and the way it impacted work."
The chats are from when Aaftab and Shraddha lived together in their hometown Vasai near Mumbai. Shraddha Walkar was murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Amen Poonawala in May 2022.
Amid all the other developments in the case, a Delhi court has directed the police not to use any third degree measures on Aaftab Amin Poonawala during its interrogation.
Police records friend's statement in Vasai
Meanwhile, a team of Delhi Police on Friday recorded the statement of murder victim Shraddha Walkar's close friend in her hometown of Vasai in Maharashtra.
A four-member team of police from the national capital visited Manikpur police station in Vasai, near Mumbai, and recorded the statement of Laxman Nadar, Walkar's friend, said a local official.
They will also record the statements of local police officials who had recorded the missing person complaint lodged by Walkar's father and questioned her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, who is now accused of murdering her.
Poonawala's family members left their Vasai flat 15 days ago when the heinous murder came to light. Poonawala, yet to be arrested then, had visited Vasai to help his family with the shifting, the police official said.
His relatives too would be questioned, the official added.
"It is Delhi police's case, we will provide them all necessary assistance," said a senior official of the Mira-Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissionerate.
According to Delhi Police, Poonawala allegedly strangled Walkar (27), on May 18 and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city.
(with inputs from PTI)
