COPS: BOTH SETS OF PARENTS WERE OPPOSED TO THE INTERFAITH RELATIONSHIP

NEW DELHI: The parents of both Aaftab Amin Poonawala and Shraddha Vikas Walkar have said that they were against their relationship, right from the time they found out that their children were dating.

Poonawala, 28, and Walkar, 27, originally from Vasai near Mumbai, had moved to Delhi in May and were living in a flat in the Chhattarpur Pahadi area, police said. On May 18, Poonawala allegedly strangled Walkar, chopped up her body into 35 pieces, and over the next three months, disposed of the body parts in forested areas in Delhi.

While Walkar’s father Vikas Madan Walker said he was opposed to the relationship because of the couple’s different faiths, Poonawala’s father, Amin said he feared their relationship would become a communal issue some day.

Speaking to HT, Vikas Walkar claimed that his daughter was “mesmerised” by Poonawala.

“Poonawala has ruined our lives. First, he took our prestige in our community, and then he killed my only daughter. When my wife asked her to end her relationship with Poonawala in 2019, she said she was an adult and had the right to choose her partner. After few days, she left our house and started living with Poonawala,” Vikas Walkar said.

“My wife couldn’t bear the pain of losing her daughter and passed away on January 23, 2020. After her mother’s death, we had little communication,” Vikas Walkar said.

The woman’s father said he suspected something amiss when one of his son’s friends, Lakshman Nadar, who was in touch with Shraddha, informed him on September 14 that her mobile phone had been switched off for the last two-and-a-half months. “On September 15, I lodged a missing person’s report at Manikpura police station in Maharashtra… Now, I want justice for my daughter and capital punishment for Poonawala,” he said.

Meanwhile, Amin Poonawala said he was waiting for some clarity on what will happen now, adding that he too was opposed to the relationship right from the start. He said, “We were against their relationship and asked him not to be with her. But he never paid heed. I also warned him that in any untoward circumstances, it will take some ugly communal angle. If my son has committed this gory crime, he must be punished. He must be given the strictest punishment. But if not, he must not be made scapegoat for igniting communal passion. I urge everyone not to communalise the incident.”