Shraddha Walker, Aftab
– Photo: Social Media
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The High Court on Friday directed Tihar Jail authorities to keep Shraddha Walker murder accused Aftab Poonawalla out of solitary confinement for eight hours during daylight hours as per jail rules.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Girish Kathpalia passed the order while hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by Poonawala. The court said that considering Poonawala’s fear of danger, he should be locked back in his cell at night.
Poonawalla moved the court arguing that the jail authorities were keeping him in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day in the name of protecting him from security threats. His lawyer told the court that even though other such prisoners were kept in solitary confinement for eight hours a day, But Poonawala is being allowed to go out only for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. He said he has been in solitary confinement since March 2023, although he has not committed any crime in jail.
Delhi government’s standing counsel Sanjay Lao said that Poonawala is being kept in a security jail due to fear of danger. Lao said Poonawala was attacked when he was being taken to the forensic lab and the trial court had ordered that he be provided security. The court, while considering the arguments, said that since it was Poonawala’s own request to be allowed out of solitary confinement, it should be kept open for eight hours a day.
Poonawala has been accused of murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walker. Charges have also been framed against him for offense under Section 201 for causing disappearance of evidence. Poonawala and Walker got into a live-in relationship after meeting on mobile dating app Bumble. They were initially based out of Mumbai before relocating to Delhi in 2022. According to the investigating police, Poonawala killed Walker after a fight with him in a flat in Mehrauli on May 18, 2022.
He is alleged to have strangled Walker, cut her body into 35 pieces, put her in a refrigerator and later dumped the pieces in various parts of the city over the next 18 days. The high court had in November last year rejected a PIL seeking transfer of investigation into the case from Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).