‘Social worker offered to help victim file FIR against Aaftab’
MUMBAI: The Delhi Police on Monday recorded the statement of a Mumbai-based social worker who said she helped Shraddha Walkar after she was allegedly physically abused by her boyfriend Aaftab Poonawala when they lived together in Maharashtra’s Vasai.
The police suspect that Poonawala (28), killed Walkar (27), at their flat in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur Pahadi on May 18. According to the police, he said he dismembered her body, and dumped the parts in forested areas in Delhi and Gurugram.
Delhi Police officers confirmed they questioned the social worker, Poonam Bidlan.
A Delhi Police team is in Maharashtra to record statements of the
couple’s friends and family. The team has recorded statements of 13 people so far, including of three men — Karan Brar, Godwin Rodrigues and Rahul Rai — who have come forward to state they helped Walkar in 2020 after Poonawala allegedly assaulted her.
On Monday, the team recorded a statement from Bidlan, who says she offered to help Walkar. According to Bidlan, Rai contacted her after Poonawala allegedly assaulted Walkar on November 23, 2020. She said Rai convinced Walkar to meet her so that a police complaint could be filed against Poonawala.
Bidlan told HT that when she told Walkar to file a first information report (FIR) against Poonawala, she agreed, only to backtrack, allegedly after a request from Poonawala’s parents. “She never contacted me again,” said Bidlan.
The police team also recorded the statement of Dr Shiv Prasad Shinde, who treated Walkar on December 3, 2020 at Ozone Hospital in Mumbai. Shinde told the Delhi Police that Walkar had suffered internal injuries, and during her three-day stay at the hospital, had told hospital staff that she had fallen down the stairs, which is why the police were not approached.